Emily Schoenthaler

Bristol Myers Squibb's Nathan Pennell explains how the MRD endpoint supports accelerated approval in multiple myeloma without changing how clinicians monitor patients.

CaseBioscience joins an ARPA-H effort to develop room-temperature cell therapy preservation, Novartis licenses an mRNA-encoded T-cell engager from Abogen, and AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, and Summit plan to combine Datroway with ivonescimab.

Artiva Biotherapeutics will present data on AlloNK, an allogeneic, non-genetically modified NK cell therapy given with rituximab, in refractory rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren disease and systemic sclerosis at ACR Convergence 2026, ahead of a planned phase 3 trial in rheumatoid arthritis.

Novartis has secured an exclusive worldwide license to ABO2203, Abogen's investigational mRNA-encoded CD19xCD3 T-cell engager designed to produce the bispecific inside the body to reset B cells in autoimmune disease. The agreement also includes options on other programs built on Abogen's RNA platform.

Former FDA oncology reviewer Paz Vellanki, MD, PhD, of Precision for Medicine, discusses how CDER's ARC program supports novel end points such as ctDNA for rare diseases and why sponsors should engage FDA early.

Following an FDA meeting, Wave Life Sciences plans a single 2-year registrational trial of WVE-006, its GalNAc-conjugated RNA editing oligonucleotide for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, with a 1-year interim analysis that could support accelerated approval based on biomarkers.

Real-world data show weight loss after switching to the Wegovy pill, Lilly reports positive hand and foot atopic dermatitis data, and Teva wins FDA approval for a Xgeva biosimilar.

The Bend, Oregon, CDMO is building a greenfield commercial facility, due in 3Q 2027, that will add OEB4 spray drying, nano-milling, and finished-dose capabilities for oral and inhaled products.

In the OCTANE real-world analysis presented at EASD 2026, adults who switched from injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide to once-daily oral semaglutide lost an average of 4.1% of body weight after 3 months.

Novo Nordisk licenses a once-weekly oral GLP-1/GIP candidate, uniQure reports 48-month Huntington’s disease data, and AstraZeneca invests $2 billion in Summit Therapeutics.

Novo gains global rights, excluding Greater China, to HRS-1596, a phase 1-ready GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist that Hengrui says has potential for once-weekly oral dosing in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Updated 36-month data in 15 high-dose patients showed 80% slowing on cUHDRS, while the 48-month cUHDRS result did not reach statistical significance. uniQure attributes the gap to attrition in the external control, and the FDA is reviewing a BLA based on the 36-month data.

AstraZeneca's sBLA for durvalumab combined with neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer, based on the Phase 3 VOLGA trial, has a PDUFA date expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.

IMVT-1402 (imeroprubart) failed to reach statistical significance on CLASI-A at Week 12 in a 57-patient proof-of-concept study, and Immunovant will stop development in cutaneous lupus erythematosus. The anti-FcRn antibody continues in five other autoimmune indications.

SOTIO Biotech's LRRC15-targeted antibody-drug conjugate SOT106 now holds both Orphan Drug and Fast Track Designations in soft tissue sarcoma and osteosarcoma. The company expects to start first-in-human testing later in 2026.

The FDA has approved a label update for Merck's Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk) incorporating Phase 3 HYPERION data, showing a 76% reduction in clinical worsening events when added to background therapy in adults diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension within the past year.

Glycomine's GLM101, an investigational liposomal mannose-1-phosphate substrate replacement therapy, has received FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation for PMM2-CDG, a rare glycosylation disorder with no approved treatments.

Eron Kelly, CEO of ConcertAI, and Dr. Shaalan Beg, CMO, oncology, ConcertAI, discuss how AI can help physicians access the right information at the right time while supporting clinical trials, research, and quality initiatives.

Biocon's Pebrilzo, a pertuzumab biosimilar for HER2-positive breast cancer, has become the first monoclonal antibody biosimilar to receive a positive CHMP opinion under EMA's newly adopted tailored clinical approach, which can reduce comparative efficacy trial requirements.

Vironexis Biotherapeutics reported that the first three antibody-naive patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with its one-time in vivo immunotherapy VNX-101 all achieved MRD-negative complete responses, with durability tracked through at least nine months.

Athenecia Faggins of Minaris Advanced Therapies discusses raw material qualification, supplier management, testing, and risk control for advanced therapy manufacturing.

Sanofi’s Jack Prior discusses how biopharmaceutical manufacturers can assess whether process data is ready for human and AI use, and the role of data quality, accessibility, governance, and AI in manufacturing.

This episode of the BioPharm Brief highlights Roche’s Tam-Peli phase 3 survival data in relapsed small-cell lung cancer, Cellectis’ shift to in vivo gene editing for lipid disorders, and Phio Pharmaceuticals’ FDA briefing package for PH-762 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Tambotatug pelitecan (Tam-Peli), a B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate, is the second of at least three B7-H3-targeted ADCs to post positive late-stage data in relapsed small-cell lung cancer this year.

Four cell therapy developers have pulled back from ex vivo manufacturing in the past month — ArsenalBio, TScan Therapeutics, and Cellectis all pivoted to in vivo approaches, while Bristol Myers Squibb terminated its manufacturing partnership with automation specialist Cellares after determining its platform couldn't meet requirements for commercial Breyanzi production, triggering layoffs.

The BioPharm Brief covers Resolution Therapeutics’ completed enrollment of RTX001 in the EMERALD trial, Samsung Biologics’ $262 million manufacturing deal, and CordenPharma’s $80 million investment to expand sterile injectable capacity.

Samsung Biologics signed a $262 million contract manufacturing agreement with an undisclosed European pharmaceutical company, extending production commitments through 2033 and lifting the CDMO's cumulative contract value past $21.9 billion.

CordenPharma is expanding its Caponago, Italy site with a €80 million multi-year investment and new aseptic fill-finish lines, aiming to reach 500 million sterile injectable units of annual capacity to meet rising demand across peptide, biologic, LNP, and oligonucleotide-based drug products.

The BioPharm Brief highlights Biora Therapeutics’ first human trial of its BioJet oral delivery system, FDA priority review of Roche’s satralizumab for MOGAD, and Encoded Therapeutics’ $275 million financing for its Dravet syndrome gene therapy ETX101.

Solstice Oncology launched with a $225 million Series A financing to advance porustobart, a second-generation, Fc-enhanced CTLA-4 antibody licensed from Harbour BioMed, into neoadjuvant Phase 2 testing for microsatellite-stable colon cancer.