9 April 2025 A federal commission has urged the US government to invest $15 billion to protect the country’s leadership in biotechnology and prevent China from outpacing American innovation in the field. The warning comes amid rising concern over growing reliance on foreign manufacturing and increasing Chinese activity in licensing biotech assets.
US biotech Atossa Therapeutics has entered into a research collaboration with China-backed Nona Biosciences, aiming to identify next-generation antibody therapies for breast cancer using Nona’s proprietary platform technology. 10 April 2025
US clinical-stage biotech Imbria Pharmaceuticals, which is focused on cardiometabolic diseases with high unmet need, says it has closed a $57.5 million Seres B financing. 10 April 2025
Pain is good. Or finding non-opioid ways to manage it is good, if Latigo Biotherapeutics’ $150 million March fundraise is anything to go by. 10 April 2025
US biotech ImmunityBio has secured $75 million through a direct offering with a single institutional investor, according to a statement released Tuesday. 10 April 2025
The UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended erdafitinib, trade name Balversa and manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, for some adult patients in England. 10 April 2025
California-based clinical-stage biotech Tempest Therapeutics has announced that the company plans to explore a full range of strategic alternatives to advance its promising clinical stage programs and maximize stockholder value. 10 April 2025
Menarini Biotech, a group company of Italy’s Menarini, has entered into a strategic collaboration with ERBC, a leading pre-clinical contract research organization (CRO), aimed at streamlining and speeding up the transition of biopharmaceuticals from the research stage to First-In-Human (FIH) clinical trials. 10 April 2025
Solu Therapeutics, a US biotech developing therapies to eliminate disease-driving cells in cancer, immunology and other therapeutic areas, has announced the successful completion of a $41 million Series A financing. 10 April 2025
At the recent American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2025 annual meeting, Axsome Therapeutics presented promising data for AXS-05 (bupropion + dextromethorphan) in treating agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 10 April 2025
The first comprehensive analysis of clinical trials in the UK has found the country remains a global leader in medical research but highlights the need for broader disease focus and better trial representation. 10 April 2025
Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk has announced an investment of $1.1 billion to expand its production facility in Brazil’s Montes Claros, northern Minas Gerais, with the aim of increasing production capacity for injectable treatments for people with obesity, diabetes and other serious chronic diseases. 10 April 2025
Chinese biotech RemeGen has reported positive late-stage clinical trial data for its dual-target fusion protein telitacicept in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, offering a potential new treatment option for the rare autoimmune disorder. 10 April 2025
US health technology assessor the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (CER), in collaboration with researchers from Brown University, has published a new white paper that provides clear policy and market solutions to help manage affordable and equitable access to GLP-1 obesity medications. 10 April 2025
South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis presented data, including the budget impact analysis on ustekinumab biosimilars’ cost savings in Germany, the UK and Sweden at the 8th International Meeting on Intestinal Diseases in conjunction with the Annual Congress of the Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases (IMKASID 2025) held in Seoul, Korea. 10 April 2025
The All-Russian Union of Patients (VSP) has called on Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tatyana Golikova, to expand the list of drugs that are the subject of public procurements in the country in order to avoid a shortage of certain categories of drugs in the domestic market, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports.. 10 April 2025
Licensing agreements for Chinese drug candidates hit a record high in 2024, with large pharma in-licensing 28% of innovator drugs from Chinese biopharma companies. 9 April 2025
The Russian pharmaceutical market grew by 10% in value terms to 2.85 trillion roubles ($85 billion) in 2024, which was mainly due to the growth of it commercial segment, where the growth of sales was equivalent to 13.8%. 9 April 2025
Privately-held Finland-based Valo Therapeutics (ValoTx), an immunotherapy company developing novel, adaptable treatments for cancer, today announced the appointment of Marcella Origgi as its chief executive (CEO) of its Helsinki headquarters and Naples, Italy, subsidiary. 9 April 2025
The European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorization to Rinvoq (upadacitinib; 15mg, once daily), from US pharma major AbbVie , for the treatment of giant cell arteritis (GCA) in adult patients. 9 April 2025
US biotech Annovis Bio has reported encouraging findings for its experimental therapy buntanetap in a subgroup of patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease and mild dementia. 9 April 2025
US biotech Atossa Therapeutics has entered into a research collaboration with China-backed Nona Biosciences, aiming to identify next-generation antibody therapies for breast cancer using Nona’s proprietary platform technology. 10 April 2025
US clinical-stage biotech Imbria Pharmaceuticals, which is focused on cardiometabolic diseases with high unmet need, says it has closed a $57.5 million Seres B financing. 10 April 2025
Pain is good. Or finding non-opioid ways to manage it is good, if Latigo Biotherapeutics’ $150 million March fundraise is anything to go by. 10 April 2025
US biotech ImmunityBio has secured $75 million through a direct offering with a single institutional investor, according to a statement released Tuesday. 10 April 2025
The UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended erdafitinib, trade name Balversa and manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, for some adult patients in England. 10 April 2025
California-based clinical-stage biotech Tempest Therapeutics has announced that the company plans to explore a full range of strategic alternatives to advance its promising clinical stage programs and maximize stockholder value. 10 April 2025
Menarini Biotech, a group company of Italy’s Menarini, has entered into a strategic collaboration with ERBC, a leading pre-clinical contract research organization (CRO), aimed at streamlining and speeding up the transition of biopharmaceuticals from the research stage to First-In-Human (FIH) clinical trials. 10 April 2025
Solu Therapeutics, a US biotech developing therapies to eliminate disease-driving cells in cancer, immunology and other therapeutic areas, has announced the successful completion of a $41 million Series A financing. 10 April 2025
At the recent American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2025 annual meeting, Axsome Therapeutics presented promising data for AXS-05 (bupropion + dextromethorphan) in treating agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 10 April 2025
The first comprehensive analysis of clinical trials in the UK has found the country remains a global leader in medical research but highlights the need for broader disease focus and better trial representation. 10 April 2025
Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk has announced an investment of $1.1 billion to expand its production facility in Brazil’s Montes Claros, northern Minas Gerais, with the aim of increasing production capacity for injectable treatments for people with obesity, diabetes and other serious chronic diseases. 10 April 2025
Chinese biotech RemeGen has reported positive late-stage clinical trial data for its dual-target fusion protein telitacicept in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, offering a potential new treatment option for the rare autoimmune disorder. 10 April 2025
US health technology assessor the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (CER), in collaboration with researchers from Brown University, has published a new white paper that provides clear policy and market solutions to help manage affordable and equitable access to GLP-1 obesity medications. 10 April 2025
South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis presented data, including the budget impact analysis on ustekinumab biosimilars’ cost savings in Germany, the UK and Sweden at the 8th International Meeting on Intestinal Diseases in conjunction with the Annual Congress of the Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases (IMKASID 2025) held in Seoul, Korea. 10 April 2025
The All-Russian Union of Patients (VSP) has called on Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tatyana Golikova, to expand the list of drugs that are the subject of public procurements in the country in order to avoid a shortage of certain categories of drugs in the domestic market, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports.. 10 April 2025
Licensing agreements for Chinese drug candidates hit a record high in 2024, with large pharma in-licensing 28% of innovator drugs from Chinese biopharma companies. 9 April 2025
The Russian pharmaceutical market grew by 10% in value terms to 2.85 trillion roubles ($85 billion) in 2024, which was mainly due to the growth of it commercial segment, where the growth of sales was equivalent to 13.8%. 9 April 2025
Privately-held Finland-based Valo Therapeutics (ValoTx), an immunotherapy company developing novel, adaptable treatments for cancer, today announced the appointment of Marcella Origgi as its chief executive (CEO) of its Helsinki headquarters and Naples, Italy, subsidiary. 9 April 2025
The European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorization to Rinvoq (upadacitinib; 15mg, once daily), from US pharma major AbbVie , for the treatment of giant cell arteritis (GCA) in adult patients. 9 April 2025
US biotech Annovis Bio has reported encouraging findings for its experimental therapy buntanetap in a subgroup of patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease and mild dementia. 9 April 2025