In the first part of a two-part interview, Paz Vellanki of Precision for Medicine explains what sponsors should bring to early FDA meetings and how manufacturing and assay readiness can delay rare disease trials.
News|Videos|October 17, 2025
BioPharm Weekly News Roundup—Week of Oct. 13, 2025
Author(s)Feliza Mirasol
This week’s news highlights biopharma R&D’s focus on new biologics and CGT innovation, with growth fueled by AI adoption and significant investments into market expansion.
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Welcome to the BioPharm International® weekly news roundup for the week of Oct. 13, 2025. In this video feature, the editors highlight each week’s industry news in an easy-to-consume, fun format. New roundups will drop every Friday, so be sure to come back each week. And be sure to check the links below for more in-depth coverage of each story.
Biologics, obesity R&D partnerships, and China collaborations are driving pharmaceutical M&A and selective venture capital funding in the third quarter of 2025, according to
Biotech equipment market growth to $144 billion by 2030 fuels pharma R&D, precision medicine, and automation across drug manufacturing, according to
CGT innovation requires
CGT represents the
Life science CEOs prioritize AI investment, workforce upskilling, and supply chain resilience, addressing regulatory demands and rising ethical concerns, according to
CGT investment has shifted to cautious optimism, but
Biopharma needs hands-on training, talent hubs, and long-term strategic investment to bridge the
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FDA clears the IND for Biolojic Design’s BD200, an AI-designed Trop2/Nectin-4 multibody ADC; Blackstone Life Sciences agrees to provide Pfizer up to $1.5 billion to develop its monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist berobenatide; and enGene Therapeutics plans a year-end BLA for detalimogene voraplasmid in BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
FDA has cleared Biolojic Design’s IND for BD200, a bispecific antibody-drug conjugate targeting Trop2 and Nectin-4 whose arms can each bind either target. A global Phase 1 study in solid tumors is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Blackstone Life Sciences will fund up to $1.5 billion of development costs through 2028 for Pfizer’s monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist berobenatide, in exchange for milestone payments tied to approval and sales. Pfizer keeps full control of the program.
Beam Therapeutics’ base-edited cell therapy risto-cel meets its primary endpoint in the BEACON sickle cell disease trial, Amgen’s CD40L antagonist dazodalibep reduces systemic disease activity in the phase 3 OASIZ-301 Sjögren’s disease trial, and ImvivaBio’s allogeneic CD19/BCMA CAR-T CTA313 sustains lupus remission through 12 months.
ImvivaBio’s off-the-shelf CD19/BCMA CAR-T cell therapy CTA313 kept 88% of evaluable patients with refractory lupus in DORIS remission at Month 12, according to longer-term phase 1 data presented at ACR Convergence 2026.
Full phase 3 OASIZ-301 results show both dosing regimens of Amgen’s CD40L antagonist fusion protein dazodalibep reduced systemic disease activity in Sjögren’s disease at Week 48. The every-four-weeks dose also improved patient-reported dryness.
FDA grants RMAT and Fast Track designations to AbelZeta’s CD20/CD19 bispecific CAR-T prizlon-cel in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, Larimar Therapeutics completes a BLA seeking accelerated approval of nomlabofusp for Friedreich’s ataxia, and Merck’s GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist efinopegdutide meets its primary endpoint in a phase 2b MASH trial.
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