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Nov 1, 2024

The 2024 Biotech Graveyard 


AstraZeneca's China president faces 'ongoing investigation' by authorities in the country


Novartis' $2.9B MorphoSys bet stumbles as safety signal delays filing by years


AbbVie inks $1.4B Aliada buyout, landing ex-J&J Alzheimer's drug to leap the blood-brain barrier


Eli Lilly's tirzepatide products come up more than $1B short of analyst expectations in Q3


In conversation with Boston Scientific's global medical chief, Ken Stein, taking the pulse of pulsed field ablation


Irish CRO giant Icon plots layoffs after underwhelming Q3 performance

 

Featured

The 2024 Biotech Graveyard

Last year, biotech shutdowns spiked. Thankfully, 2024’s numbers are a little lower, dropping from the 27 closures in 2023 to 22 this year.
 

Top Stories

AstraZeneca's China president faces 'ongoing investigation' by authorities in the country

Following a report of an ex-AstraZeneca executive being detained in China, the company acknowledged that its current president in the country, Leon Wang, "is cooperating with an ongoing investigation."

Novartis' $2.9B MorphoSys bet stumbles as safety signal delays filing by years

Novartis’ 2.7 billion euro gamble on MorphoSys has hit turbulence. Months after buying the biotech, Novartis has revealed a safety signal that could set back plans to seek approval for the jewel of the acquisition by a couple of years.

AbbVie inks $1.4B Aliada buyout, landing ex-J&J Alzheimer's drug to leap the blood-brain barrier

AbbVie has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to buy Aliada Therapeutics. The buyout will give AbbVie control of an Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate that Aliada in-licensed from Johnson & Johnson to try to improve on the first generation of anti-amyloid-beta antibodies.

Eli Lilly's tirzepatide products come up more than $1B short of analyst expectations in Q3

Sales of Eli Lilly’s diabetes and weight loss drugs fell far short of analyst expectations in the third quarter, leading the juggernaut company to reduce its annual revenue guidance and triggering speculation that skyrocketing demand for the blood sugar modulating treatments has maxed out.

In conversation with Boston Scientific's global medical chief, Ken Stein, taking the pulse of pulsed field ablation

Since rolling out its pulsed field ablation system for treating atrial fibrillation earlier this year, Boston Scientific has seen its Farapulse sales grow by leaps and bounds.

Irish CRO giant Icon plots layoffs after underwhelming Q3 performance

Yet another CRO giant has taken a revenue hit due to a customer demand dip. Icon reported third-quarter revenue of $2.03 billion, underperforming analyst expectations of $2.142 billion.

GSK tries to steady the ship as Arexvy sales plummet in wake of CDC guidance changes

To hear GSK CEO Emma Walmsley tell it, the third quarter presented “some challenges” for the British drugmaker. For the company’s closely watched respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Arexvy, those challenges led to drastically reduced sales.

Fog clears to reveal Parabilis, a rebranded cancer biotech with big name backers

The fog has lifted to reveal a rebranded biotech: Parabilis Medicines. Formerly called FogPharma, the biotech picked its new name to reflect its focus on expanding what is possible in the treatment of serious diseases and commitment to ensuring its medicines reach patients globally.

Merck KGaA's MilliporeSigma production push rolls on with $76M ADC plant investment

MilliporeSigma continued its march of manufacturing investments this year, revealing plans to pump $76 million into expanding production capacity at its antibody-drug conjugate facility in St. Louis.

BMS and UT San Antonio win $615k government grant to develop green pharma manufacturing processes

The National Science Foundation has awarded $615,000 to the laboratory of chemist Doug Frantz, Ph.D., at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), for a partnership with BMS that seeks to make pharma manufacturing more environmentally friendly.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

The pulse of the medtech industry

This week on "The Top Line," Fierce Medtech's Conor Hale dives into EY's 18th annual Pulse of the MedTech Industry report and chats with EY's John Babbitt about the team's findings and the pace of M&A, venture capital funding and recent IPOs. 
 

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Communicating the Value of Biopharma Assets to Potential Investors

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The Future of MedTech: The Role of AI

Cognizant, in partnership with Microsoft, have interviewed 200 medtech decision makers across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and the USA to find out about what the future holds. A responsible AI framework is going to be key. Read our report to learn more.
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Switching Treatments: Pharma's Opportunity to Drive Action

Open up unexpected opportunities. This digital story offers pharma marketers proactive strategies for helping patients discover and switch to treatments, even if they aren’t actively looking to make a change.
 

Industry Events

On Helix

Date: ‌4 ‌July ‌2024 ‌- ‌Location: ‌Babraham ‌Research ‌Campus, ‌Cambridge ‌UK

 

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