I-Mab cuts 27% of workforce amid pipeline pivot

Today’s Big News

Jan 29, 2025

Teva, despite delivering in 2024, startles investors with subdued 2025 guidance 


Zimmer Biomet nets foot-and-ankle specialist Paragon 28 for $1.1B 


I-Mab lays off 27% of workforce after pivoting to CLDN18.2 bispecific 


Senators re-up call to include prices in DTC drug ads 


Zentalis lays off 40% of staff to fund registrational trial of WEE1 drug 


US government agencies file objection to J&J's $9B talc bankruptcy settlement 


Stryker to spin off spinal implant business, as Viscogliosi Brothers-owned VB Spine 

 

Featured

Teva, despite delivering in 2024, startles investors with subdued 2025 guidance

Despite finishing strong in 2024, Teva’s cautious approach to the new year appears to have investors spooked. The company's subdued guidance likely explains the performance of Teva’s stock, which plunged 13% on Wednesday.
 

Top Stories

Zimmer Biomet nets foot-and-ankle specialist Paragon 28 for $1.1B

Paragon 28’s catalog spans products for fracture and trauma fixation procedures in addition to deformity corrections and joint replacements.

I-Mab lays off 27% of workforce after pivoting to CLDN18.2 bispecific

I-Mab’s pipeline pivot had a sting in the tail. Weeks after shifting its focus, the biotech said Wednesday that it has reduced its workforce by around 27% in conjunction with the pipeline reprioritization.

Senators re-up call to include prices in DTC drug ads

A squadron of senators is once again putting forward a proposal to boost price transparency in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising.

Zentalis lays off 40% of staff to fund registrational trial of WEE1 drug

The FDA’s move to lift the hold on Zentalis Pharmaceuticals’ sole clinical-stage drug may have been good news for the biotech—but it’s been bad news for some of its staff. The company is now laying off 40% of its employees as it gears up for registrational studies in ovarian cancer.

US government agencies file objection to J&J's $9B talc bankruptcy settlement

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs have filed an objection to Johnson & Johnson's attempt to resolve its talc litigation through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The agencies argue that J&J’s plan is in “violation of the Bankruptcy Code and federal law.”

Stryker to spin off spinal implant business, as Viscogliosi Brothers-owned VB Spine

Stryker is selling off its spine implant business—starting with a plan to spin off its U.S. operations before moving on to divest its international enterprises in the months to come.

As RFK Jr. faces Senate, survey shows widespread support for access to vaccines

The Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease has put out a timely notice about support for vaccines. Forty-five minutes before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down for his first grilling by the Senate, the nonprofit shared survey data showing 74% of U.S. voters want FDA-approved vaccines to be widely available.

Amid more drug-price scrutiny, biopharma companies largely keep their January hikes in check

So far this month, companies in the biopharma industry have raised prices on more than 930 products but the increases have largely been modest, averaging 4%.

Cullinan plans approval application for lung cancer drug this year based on phase 2 win

Cullinan Therapeutics has announced that its lead asset has aced a midstage lung cancer trial—but the biotech is keeping the data close to its chest for now.

Hims & Hers tackles pharma industry drug pricing in Super Bowl ad for compounded GLP-1s

Telehealth company Hims & Hers is playing offense in a new commercial slated to air during the Super Bowl next month.

UPDATED: Rubio allows medicine supplies to resume amid US aid freeze, reports say

The U.S. State Department is allowing the supply of critical drugs to continue despite an executive order temporarily freezing foreign aid for 90 days.

Two hormone therapies restore normal sleep in mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Trouble sleeping is common in other neurodegenerative diseases, but past research has only suggested that it occurs in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Now, a new study has not only confirmed that sleep disruption is a symptom of ALS but has identified two potential hormone therapies that could treat it.

Fewer than 1% of clinical trials in the US include pregnant patients, study finds

Pregnancy comes with unique health risks and considerations, but pregnant people also continue to experience the same health problems that nonpregnant people do. Despite this, a new study has found that fewer than 1% of randomized controlled trials in the U.S. include pregnant participants.

CMI survey suggests obesity patients’ love of streaming TV comedies, dramas paves a path for pharma advertisers

Want the eyeballs of people with obesity? Think TV. That is a takeaway from a CMI survey that suggests the fight for attention will be waged on traditional marketing battlegrounds, with TV emerging as the best way to reach people with obesity and Facebook still reigning supreme in the social media space.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Recapping the 2025 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

This week on “The Top Line,” we break down the biggest stories out of JPM, from J&J’s blockbuster acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies to former First Lady Jill Biden’s appearance at Fierce JPM Week.
 

Resources

Whitepaper

Communicating the Value of Biopharma Assets to Potential Investors

How can an emerging company attract the right partner for a therapeutic asset (& optimize its value in a transaction)? This paper offers some insights.
 

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