Optum is shutting down its virtual care business
UnitedHealth Group’s Optum is shutting down its virtual care business, Endpoints News has learned. Known as Optum Virtual Care, the business provides online urgent and primary care visits and...
View ArticleFDA's biologics chief Peter Marks previews accelerated approval guidance
The FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research is planning to release some crucial guidance soon for CRISPR and gene therapy developers on platform technologies, accelerated approvals for rare...
View ArticleCancer testing company Freenome to lay off 100 employees
Freenome, a maker of blood-based cancer tests, will lay off more than 100 employees, or 20% of its workforce, a spokesperson for the company told Endpoints News. The job cuts come after Freenome raised...
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Roche unruffled by China bill as it looks to grow roots in the region
Roche on Wednesday morning said it has “minor exposure” from the Biosecure Act, adding that it is making strides in China’s pharma and diagnostics markets. Thomas Schinecker “We’ve really worked on...
View ArticleThermo Fisher expects lasting benefits to bill targeting Chinese service...
Thermo Fisher said it will be a “long-term beneficiary” of biopharma customers localizing their supply chains, given most of its network is based in the US and Europe. Clients are thinking more...
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Neurocrine launches CAH rare disease education campaign ahead of FDA submission
Neurocrine Biosciences’ newly-debuted campaign acknowledges the frustration that congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) patients, families and endocrinologists often feel. The “What the C@H?!” theme is a...
View ArticleSen. Sanders launches probe of Novo's Wegovy and Ozempic pricing
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is ramping up his campaign against what he says are “outrageously high” list prices for Novo Nordisk’s weight loss and diabetes blockbusters Wegovy and Ozempic. The senator...
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Following lower-than-expected profits, Evotec plans to cut costs, completes...
Evotec announced a “reset” to its business plan as it reported financial results Wednesday, following a year in which many contract drug manufacturers have struggled. Mario Polywka The German company...
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Cidara buys back flu rights, sells antifungal and inks $240M PIPE
Cidara Therapeutics announced several sweeping moves on Wednesday afternoon to bring an influenza drug back in-house and raise money from investors to back the program. The San Diego biotech said it...
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BioMarin's Roctavian struggles continue. Is a divestment in the future?
Less than a year into a rocky rollout for its gene therapy Roctavian, BioMarin is now talking about whether the product might be a better fit outside the company, and cutting several pipeline programs....
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Walgreens will build out specialty pharmacy business, leaning into drug and...
(This story is from our new Health Tech newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, just click here.) Walgreens said Thursday it’s getting into cell and gene therapy pharmacy services and bringing its...
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Astellas' Friedreich’s ataxia gene therapy cleared for clinical study after...
After hitting a speed bump in its first attempt at developing a gene therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia, Astellas is ready to put a new version in the clinic. On Thursday, the Japanese drugmaker announced...
View ArticleSanofi spotlights early-stage cancer assets, counts on grandfather clause on...
Sanofi is keeping an early pipeline of oncology projects even as it axed clinical-stage programs and reallocated resources to immunology, CEO Paul Hudson told reporters Thursday morning. Hudson also...
View ArticleBristol Myers plans $1.5B in cost cuts as CEO promises more 'agile' company
The “transition period” that Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner promised was coming to the company appears to have arrived. On Thursday, the pharma giant said it would undertake $1.5 billion in...
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Regeneron and Mammoth strike $100M deal to pair tiny CRISPR editors with new...
Regeneron is expanding its genetic medicine efforts and will work with California startup Mammoth Biosciences on gene-editing programs reaching parts of the human body beyond the liver, the companies...
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AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot says new rise in pay is ‘really about’ potential...
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot vigorously defended his recently secured $23.5 million pay package, citing the UK pharma’s need to compete for talent. “It really is about making the company competitive...
View ArticleMerck KGaA to expand German headquarters with €300M+ research center
Merck KGaA is allocating over €300 million ($321.8 million) to build a new research building at its headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany to study technologies for its life science business. By 2027, the...
View ArticleAstellas cuts a bispecific in cancer and a mitochondria-focused asset from...
Astellas said it has removed a Phase 1 cancer asset as well as a small molecule that came from its Mitobridge acquisition. The Japanese pharma will no longer test the TSPAN8 and CD3 bispecific known as...
View ArticleCerevance's $47M raise; Parexel's AI pact
Plus, news about Intra-Cellular: Cerevance adds $47 million to Series B: The neurological disease biotech’s series B-1 raise now sits at $98 million, with investments from Agent Capital,...
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Bristol Myers outlines ‘about 12’ pipeline cuts as it executes major cutbacks
As part of its sweeping $1.5 billion cost-cutting measure, Bristol Myers Squibb is culling “about 12” programs from its pipeline, CMO Samit Hirawat said Thursday morning. The programs will either be...
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