Scrip - Pharma News And Expert Analysis For Commercial Decision Makers since 1972

Spotlight On BIO

BIO Notebook: Woodcock Calls For Doing The Right Thing, Dealmaking Remains Constrained

 
• By Mandy Jackson, Joseph Haas, and Sarah Karlin-Smith

Highlights from Day Four of the BIO International Convention include Woodcock offering practical advice on rare disease trials, the sorry state of dealmaking mid-year, Novartis discussing its approach to partnering, and Generate looking for funding to move into Phase III.

BIO Notebook: MFN Pricing, Next-Gen Obesity R&D, FDA’s Rare Disease Hub & Reaction To Review Program

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith, Mandy Jackson, and Alaric DeArment

Highlights from Day 3 of the BIO International Convention include the realities of MFN pricing, AstraZeneca's R&D plans for obesity, the need for resources for FDA's rare disease hub and reactions to the Commissioner's National Priority Review Voucher program.

BIO Notebook: Policy Problems, ACIP’s Future, BI Is Popular, Makary On FDA-Industry Ties

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith and Mandy Jackson

Highlights from Day Two of the BIO International Convention include BIO officials raising concerns about Trump Administration policies, the future of ACIP, an interview with BI's head of global business development, and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary's view of the FDA-industry relationship.

BIO Notebook: IPO Window Stays Shut, PRVs Need To Be A Priority, And Focusing On Gene Therapy Safety

 
• By Mandy Jackson and Sarah Karlin-Smith

Highlights from day one of the BIO convention include advice for firms hoping to go public, a call for companies to push the US Congress on rare disease priority review vouchers, and updates on next-generation gene therapies.

Interviews

Ireland’s Got Biopharma Talent To Keep Leading The Pack

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The country’s life sciences investment head tells Scrip that it is business as usual for the sector despite the rumblings from across the Atlantic.

Innovent Builds Metabolic Pipeline While Retaining Oncology Backbone

 
• By Xu Hu

Innovent presented data on multiple pipeline assets at ASCO, including promising OS results for its first-in-class anti-PD-1/IL-2α-bias bispecific. The Chinese firm is also continuing to build out its metabolic disease portfolio and consider its partnering strategies, its CEO tells Scrip.

Henlius CEO Details PD-L1 ADC’s Path To 1L Mono/Combo Therapy

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Henlius is investigating the optimum dose for its PD-L1-targeting antibody-drug conjugate HLX43 to support potential first-line use, its CEO explains to Scrip.

Focus On Asia

China Signals Restarting IPOs For Unprofitable Biotechs

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Innovent Builds Metabolic Pipeline While Retaining Oncology Backbone

 
• By Xu Hu

Profit-Sharing AI Model Proposed To Boost Korean Drug R&D

 
• By Jung Won Shin

Henlius CEO Details PD-L1 ADC’s Path To 1L Mono/Combo Therapy

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Big Top-Level Shifts At Sun: Ganorkar Is MD, Ex-Takeda Exec To Helm US Business

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

Data Analysis

Defying Gravity: Five Drugs That Surpassed Their Sales Forecasts

 
• By Edwin Elmhirst

Many assets outperform their pre-launch sales predictions despite the frequent overestimation of forecasts within the industry. In this article, Scrip highlights several such assets and the factors that influenced their predictions.

Top 10 Drugs Q1 2025: Keytruda Dominates; Mounjaro Climbs

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Lilly’s Mounjaro for diabetes rose from sixth to third position among the top-selling drugs in the first quarter of 2025, Rival Ozempic retained second position and Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda stayed far ahead.

Titans Of Pharma: Lilly’s Ricks Tops Big Pharma Pay Chart

 
• By Eleanor Malone, Edwin Elmhirst, and Kosh Naran

The big pharma CEO with the highest-valued compensation in 2024 was David Ricks of Eli Lilly, while Pfizer and J&J executives slipped into third and fourth place behind AbbVie's now retired chief Richard Gonzalez. European firms brought up the rear.

R&D

J&J’s Trispecific Antibody For Myeloma Offers Improved Safety, Potency Over Bispecifics

 
• By Alaric DeArment

The drugmaker presented data from its Phase I study of JNJ-79635322 at ASCO and EHA showing a 100% response rate in BCMA- and GPRC5D-naïve patients.

ASCO: Pushing The Frontiers Of ADCs

 
• By Mary Jo Laffler

Antibody-drug conjugates are a major part of the oncology pipeline, and data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting highlight the emergence of new technologies.

Skyhawk Looks To Soar With Huntington’s Hope

 
• By Kevin Grogan

Oral RNA splicing modulator has gone into a Phase II/III trial

Scholar Rock Shows Muscle-Building PoC In Obesity

 
• By Jessica Merrill

The company said it intends to maintain a focus on rare neuromuscular disease with apitegromab but could consider partnering in obesity.

Business

Asia Deal Watch: SunRock, Escugen Collaborate On CCR9-Targeted ADC

 
• By Joseph Haas, Lisa Takagi, Sushmita Panda, and Xu Hu

Axcelead/Lotte Biologics/Kanaph and NextCure/Simcere also unveil ADC-focused pacts, plus deals involving Avata/Oceanus, GSK/Bharat Biotech, Cullinan/Genrix and more.

Defying Gravity: Five Drugs That Surpassed Their Sales Forecasts

 
• By Edwin Elmhirst

Many assets outperform their pre-launch sales predictions despite the frequent overestimation of forecasts within the industry. In this article, Scrip highlights several such assets and the factors that influenced their predictions.

China Signals Restarting IPOs For Unprofitable Biotechs

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has proposed a new “growth tier” for the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, to reinstate the market’s listing standards for unprofitable firms.

BIO Notebook: Woodcock Calls For Doing The Right Thing, Dealmaking Remains Constrained

 
• By Mandy Jackson, Joseph Haas, and Sarah Karlin-Smith

Highlights from Day Four of the BIO International Convention include Woodcock offering practical advice on rare disease trials, the sorry state of dealmaking mid-year, Novartis discussing its approach to partnering, and Generate looking for funding to move into Phase III.

Scrip Originals

Asia Deal Watch: SunRock, Escugen Collaborate On CCR9-Targeted ADC

 
• By Joseph Haas, Lisa Takagi, Sushmita Panda, and Xu Hu

Axcelead/Lotte Biologics/Kanaph and NextCure/Simcere also unveil ADC-focused pacts, plus deals involving Avata/Oceanus, GSK/Bharat Biotech, Cullinan/Genrix and more.

Executives On The Move: Fable Therapeutics Gains CMO From AstraZeneca

Recent moves in the industry include changes at the top at 32 Biosciences, plus new CEOs at Idorsia, Courage Therapeutics and Oncolytics Biotech.

Stock Watch: Generics Firms Trapped Between US Tariffs And European Austerity

 
• By Andy Smith

Successive annual reductions in European drug prices following the pandemic are affecting the global sales of generic pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, the imposition of US import tariffs may result in generic drug supply becoming unprofitable.

Pipeline Watch: Eight Approvals And Ten Phase III Readouts

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.