10 game-changing biotech layoffs in H1
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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Among Novartis' key growth drivers, MS drug Kesimpta surges as Kisqali sees 'positive trend' in breast cancer: CEO

Novartis is highlighting six products as key engines for the company’s mid-term growth. Among them, new multiple sclerosis drug Kesimpta and relatively slow-ramping breast cancer med Kisqali earned a special call-out from CEO Vas Narasimhan.

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Top Stories

Sci-fi no more: Synchron implants mind-reading device in first US patient in paralysis trial

In a milestone that could turn sci-fi into fact, the first U.S. clinical trial of a brain implant that returns the power of communication to severely paralyzed people has begun.

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Top 10 game-changing biotech layoffs in H1

At the halfway point for the year, Fierce Biotech looks back at some of the most important layoff events that have hit the industry in 2021.

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Hospital, physician groups push back on CMS payment rules as COVID-19 assistance dwindles

Several hospitals and physician groups are sharply criticizing recent CMS payment rules as inadequate in light of inflation and labor shortages, as pandemic relief starts to erode.

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Incyte's topical JAK Opzelura nabs landmark vitiligo nod after brief delay this spring

Late Monday, the FDA gave the all-clear to Opzelura, also known as ruxolitinib cream 1.5%, for topical treatment of nonsegmental vitiligo in adults and teens ages 12 and older. The green light makes Opzelura the first FDA-approved treatment for repigmentation in vitiligo patients.

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Inovio cuts workforce as COVID program weighs down future growth

Inovio is reducing its workforce by 18% in a restructuring that will extend the biotech’s cash runway into 2024 and allow for prioritization of its lead DNA medicine programs. The cuts are in concert with previously announced changes to the biotech’s troubled COVID program.

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In another Lynparza flop, AstraZeneca, Merck pull the plug on a colorectal cancer trial

As AstraZeneca and Merck try to prove Lynparza across tumor types, the companies stopped a phase 3 trial investigating the drug in colorectal cancer after the study was found unlikely to succeed.

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Olive cuts 450 staff as CEO cites 'missteps' with fast growth, lack of focus

Healthcare automation startup Olive has laid off 450 employees as the CEO cited tough economic conditions as well as "missteps" in the company's strategy.

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Gilmore O'Neill picked a bad time to become a biotech CEO. He's confident Editas has the goods

Editas' new CEO Gilmore O'Neill has already checked off a few items on his to do list in his first six weeks, including hiring a chief medical officer. Fierce Biotech caught up with him and his new CMO to find out what's next.

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Delfi Diagnostics scoops up $225M from Lilly, Illumina and more for its cancer blood tests

With the funding, Delfi said it plans to ramp up the development and global rollout of its blood tests for early cancer detection and treatment monitoring.

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Axel Hoos wants to take small molecules further at Scorpion, leaving Big Pharma in the dust

Axel Hoos, M.D., Ph.D., left GSK almost a year ago, setting off to reinvent small-molecule drugs as CEO of Scorpion Therapeutics. It's a type of drug that's ripe for innovation, he figures, as other companies shift to new, hotter treatments like CAR-T. 

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Centene completes sale of PANTHERx subsidiary

The company expects to receive $2.8 billion from the two transactions.

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Roche's Alzheimer's blood test earns breakthrough label from FDA

In the wake of the FDA handing down its first clearance for an in vitro test for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in May, the floodgates have been opened.

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