#FierceMadness crowns its winner

Today’s Big News

Apr 7, 2025

GSK pens $2.5B pact for ABL Bio's tech to help antibodies bypass blood-brain barrier


In Bay Area, Gilead cuts 149 positions and Roche's diagnostics division lays off 108


Viatris agrees to pay up to $335M to settle opioid claims


#FierceMadness: The Fonz leads Apellis’ Syfovre spot to victory in 2025 Drug Ad Tournament


German research institute launches program to match threatened NIH grants with pharma funders


CDMO AmplifyBio closes doors amid tough market for early-stage cell and gene therapy development


J&J’s Shockwave Medical to study Javelin lithotripsy in coronary arteries

 

Featured

GSK pens $2.5B pact for ABL Bio's tech to help antibodies bypass blood-brain barrier

GSK has continued to flesh out its neuroscience strategy with a 2 billion pound sterling ($2.5 billion) deal to use a South Korean company’s tech to bypass the blood-brain barrier.
 

Top Stories

In Bay Area, Gilead cuts 149 positions and Roche's diagnostics division lays off 108

Gilead and Roche are continuing to lay off employees in California, with each company revealing a recent round of cuts through the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) program. While Gilead is eliminating 149 positions at its headquarters in Foster City, Roche is letting go of 108 workers at its Molecular Systems Division in Santa Clara.

Viatris agrees to pay up to $335M to settle opioid claims

Viatris has agreed to a settlement worth up to $335 million to resolve opioid-related claims to state and local governments.

#FierceMadness: The Fonz leads Apellis’ Syfovre spot to victory in 2025 Drug Ad Tournament

Tapping into Henry Winkler’s status as a beloved Hollywood icon has majorly paid off for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, whose recent TV commercial for its geographic atrophy drug Syfovre starring the actor once known as Arthur Fonzarelli has been crowned the champion of this year’s Fierce Madness Drug Ad Tournament.

German research institute launches program to match threatened NIH grants with pharma funders

As scientists across the U.S. face increasing uncertainty due to funding freezes and mass layoffs at health agencies, German research institute BioMed X is stepping in to offer a lifeline. The institute has opened a matchmaking program to align threatened NIH grants with potential new funders from the pharmaceutical industry.

CDMO AmplifyBio closes doors amid tough market for early-stage cell and gene therapy development

On the heels of a recent cost-cutting drive that severed much of AmplifyBio’s R&D capacity, the Ohio-based contract manufacturing and research hybrid has hung up its hat for good. The company attributed the decision to a downturn in the market for early-stage development of cell and gene therapies, which it said stymied its ability to grow.

J&J's Shockwave Medical to study Javelin lithotripsy in coronary arteries

After launching its latest intravascular lithotripsy catheter, designed to punch through difficult blockages in the vessels of the legs, Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s Shockwave Medical division is now studying the same approach in the arteries of the heart.

Rhythm eyes label expansion after Imcivree helps patients with brain damage-related obesity lose weight

Rhythm's Imcivree helped patients with obesity due to brain damage lose weight in a phase 3 study. With the trial win, the company is planning regulatory filings for what could be the first therapy approved in the rare disease population.

Novo’s Wegovy, J&J’s Tremfya step up TV ad spending amid March Madness tournament

Last year, AbbVie’s Skyrizi and Rinvoq were practically unshakeable atop the monthly TV drug ad spending rankings, ultimately leading the pair of immunology meds to take the full-year title for the third year in a row. 2025, however, is already off to a very different start.

Art Garfunkel joins Sun Pharma to share how psoriasis drug Ilumya provided bridge over troubled water

Art Garfunkel is breaking the sound of silence around his experience with plaque psoriasis and Sun Pharma's Ilumya.

Lexeo locks in pivotal trial plan as clinical data pump up prospects of cardiac gene therapy

Lexeo Therapeutics has posted updated data in Friedreich ataxia patients, linking a gene therapy to improvements on outcomes the biotech plans to use as co-primary endpoints in a registrational trial.

Regulatory tracker: J&J nabs EU expansions for subcutaneous combos of Darzalex, Rybrevant

In this tracker, Fierce Pharma is recording the regulatory progress of in-market products, including expansions into key geographies and new indications. Some of these updates may not meet the bar for standalone stories, but we think they are still worth mentioning.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

A closer look at pharma's top R&D budgets

This week on "The Top Line," we dive into our special report ranking the top pharma R&D budgets for 2024.
 

Resources

eBook

Through a CRO's perspective: Innovative, Agile Solutions In Vaccine Efficacy Testing

Typical vaccine development timelines have averaged 10 years, but the time from the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence’s release to the submission of the first vaccine clinical trial data for regulatory review was a mere 314 days. In IQVIA Laboratories’ Vaccine eBook we focus on how contract research organizations (CROs) can best leverage strategic partnerships with sponsors to prepare for the next pandemic.
Whitepaper

Protect Your Trial Data: Endpoint, Imaging, and Safety Review

Avoid costly mistakes and ensure your clinical development program meets the highest standards by reading WCG’s whitepaper on Imaging Core Labs, Endpoint Adjudication Committees (EAC), and other safety reviews.
Research

Best Practice Customer-Facing Organization Study Report

We interviewed 15 biopharma leaders on the critical success factors for building a Best Practice customer-facing organization. This report shares what we learned.
 

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