// Biotech and Pharma Therapeutics
Roche looks to a Flagship startup in search of new immune drugs
April 23, 2025 / autoimmune drug development / T cell therapy / Roche Genentech partnership / Repertoire Immune Medicines / Decode platform
Roche’s Genentech has partnered with Repertoire Immune Medicines to develop T cell-targeted therapies for autoimmune diseases using Repertoire’s Decode platform, with an initial $35M investment and up to $730M in potential milestone payments.
Sanofi hands back cancer NK cell engager to Innate amid autoimmune pivot
April 23, 2025 / Sanofi autoimmune pivot / NK cell engager therapy / Innate Pharma collaboration / SAR’579 cancer trial / ANKET platform drugs
Sanofi is returning the phase 2 NK cell engager SAR’579 to Innate Pharma and ending a cancer trial for SAR’514, shifting its ANKET platform collaboration toward autoimmune disease as part of a strategic portfolio pivot.
Companies Advised To Assess Potential Impacts Of Landmark Global Pandemic Treaty
April 23, 2025 / pandemic treaty WHO / global health agreement / healthcare industry preparedness / World Health Assembly 2025 / pandemic supply chain impact
Healthcare companies are urged to evaluate the implications of the WHO’s draft global pandemic treaty, set for review at the May World Health Assembly, as it could reshape responsibilities, supply chains, and equitable access in future health emergencies.
2 years after leaving PhRMA, AstraZeneca opts back in
April 22, 2025 / AstraZeneca rejoins PhRMA / Inflation Reduction Act impact / U.S. biopharma policy / drug pricing reform / biopharma industry investment
AstraZeneca has rejoined PhRMA after a two-year absence, aligning with U.S. policy shifts and major domestic investments in R&D and manufacturing. The move reflects the company’s commitment to shaping biopharma innovation and drug affordability amid evolving regulatory landscapes.
How Leveraging Information for Action can Build a More Sustainable Healthcare System
April 23, 2024 / value-based care / healthcare data analytics / physician burnout solutions / AI in healthcare / sustainable healthcare system
Transforming healthcare data into actionable insights through integrated technologies and AI can reduce physician burnout, enhance care quality, and support the shift to value-based care—driving a more sustainable, patient-centric U.S. healthcare system.
// 4th Industrial Revolution
NIH scientists use AI to sharpen standard eye imaging
April 23, 2025 / AI eye imaging / retinal disease diagnosis / RPE visualization / NIH ophthalmology innovation / macular degeneration detection
NIH researchers have developed an AI system that enhances standard eye imaging, enabling detailed visualization of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. This advancement could support early diagnosis and monitoring of retinal diseases like macular degeneration in routine clinical settings.
WebMD Ignite to Enhance Health Plan Care Management Engagement
April 23, 2025 / digital health engagement / care management platform / SMS healthcare outreach / member engagement solution / WebMD Ignite Coach
WebMD Ignite has enhanced its Coach® platform with real-time SMS capabilities, enabling health plans to improve member engagement, medication adherence, and preventive care participation while reducing hospitalizations and operational costs through scalable, mobile-first care management solutions.
Axtria unveils transformational agentic AI platform for life sciences
April 23, 2025 / agentic AI platform / life sciences AI solutions / pharmaceutical data analytics / AI in clinical development / Axtria InsightsMAx.ai
Axtria has launched Axtria InsightsMAx.ai, a transformative agentic AI platform tailored for life sciences. It accelerates AI adoption across clinical, commercial, and regulatory functions by enabling scalable deployment, domain-specific agents, and compliance-ready infrastructure.
Reforming Medicaid’s Approach to Remote Patient Monitoring Programs
April 23, 2025 / Medicaid RPM reform / remote patient monitoring access / digital health equity / telehealth reimbursement policy / rural healthcare innovation
Fragmented Medicaid policies hinder access to remote patient monitoring (RPM), especially for underserved populations. Aligning state standards with Medicare, streamlining reimbursement, and expanding eligibility for FQHCs and RHCs would improve care equity, outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs.
RPA helps Samsung Medical Center reduce records issuance wait times to 5 minutes
April 22, 2025 / medical record automation / robotic process automation healthcare / AI in hospitals / patient digital health access / sustainable healthcare technology
Samsung Medical Center implemented robotic process automation (RPA) and AI to fully automate online medical record issuance, cutting wait times to 5 minutes, improving patient access, reducing errors and costs, and enhancing environmental sustainability.
// Business & Markets
Boehringer to expand oncology presence with $572m Tessellate Bio deal
April 23, 2025 / ALT cancer therapy / Boehringer oncology expansion / Tessellate Bio partnership / targeted cancer treatment / small molecule inhibitor deal
Boehringer Ingelheim will co-develop targeted therapies with Tessellate Bio for ALT-dependent cancers, leveraging small molecule inhibitors that induce replication stress in tumor cells. The $572M deal enhances Boehringer’s oncology pipeline, especially in hard-to-treat and rare tumor types.
Is Eli Lilly Stock Going to $900? 1 Wall Street Analyst Thinks So.
April 23, 2025 / Eli Lilly Zepbound / GLP-1 obesity drug / Eli Lilly stock forecast / weight loss pharma market / Eli Lilly vs Novo Nordisk
Despite macroeconomic headwinds, Eli Lilly’s stock outlook remains strong due to the accelerating success of its obesity drug Zepbound, which is outperforming Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. BMO Capital maintains a bullish stance with a revised $900 price target.
Roche Commits to $50B in U.S. Manufacturing and R&D Investments as Pharma Tariffs Loom
April 22, 2025 / Roche U.S. investment / obesity drug manufacturing / pharma tariffs 2025 / gene therapy facility USA / AI healthcare R&D
Roche is investing $50B in U.S. manufacturing and R&D over five years, including obesity drug production, gene therapy, and AI-driven research, amid looming U.S. pharma tariffs and a broader industry trend toward domestic pharmaceutical infrastructure expansion.
Hinge Health, Cigna Healthcare partner amid IPO push
April 23, 2025 / digital musculoskeletal care / Hinge Health Cigna partnership / MSK pain management platform / Pathwell Bone & Joint / Hinge Health IPO 2025
Hinge Health is partnering with Cigna Healthcare to provide digital musculoskeletal care, including pain management and surgery decision support, to self-insured clients through Cigna’s Pathwell Bone & Joint Solution, expanding access amid Hinge’s IPO momentum.
Synthetic Design Lab Emerges with $20M to Advance Next-Generation ADCs
April 23, 2025 / “next-generation ADCs / SYNTHBODY platform / targeted cancer therapy / Daniel Chen immunotherapy / antibody-drug conjugate innovation
“
Synthetic Design Lab launches with $20M to advance its SYNTHBODY platform, a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology engineered for enhanced payload delivery and broader cancer targeting, aiming to initiate clinical trials in 2026.
// Legal & Regulatory
Eli Lilly sues four telehealth sites selling compounded Zepbound, Mounjaro
April 23, 2025 / compounded tirzepatide / Eli Lilly lawsuit / Zepbound Mounjaro telehealth / GLP-1 drug regulation / FDA compounding crackdown
Eli Lilly is suing four telehealth companies for selling unapproved, compounded versions of tirzepatide (Zepbound/Mounjaro), alleging deceptive marketing, safety concerns, and violations of FDA rules following the official end of the drug’s shortage.
Novo Nordisk keeps nose ahead of Lilly with oral GLP-1 filing
April 23, 2025 / oral GLP-1 agonist / Novo Nordisk Wegovy / Eli Lilly orforglipron / type 2 diabetes treatment / FDA semaglutide approval
Novo Nordisk has filed for FDA approval of an oral version of Wegovy (semaglutide), maintaining a lead over Eli Lilly’s orforglipron despite the latter’s promising Phase III results in type 2 diabetes treatment.
EMA To Consider Approvals For Eight Orphans, Including Vertex’s CF Drug Alyftrek
April 23, 2025 / Vertex Alyftrek approval / EMA orphan drug review / cystic fibrosis vanzacaftor / Kinselby resminostat EMA / cutaneous T-cell lymphoma treatment
The European Medicines Agency will review eight orphan drugs for potential approval, including Vertex’s next-gen cystic fibrosis therapy Alyftrek and 4SC’s Kinselby for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, which previously faced regulatory challenges in the U.S.
FDA asks Novavax for post-marketing data pledge amid stalled COVID shot review
April 23, 2025 / Novavax COVID vaccine / FDA approval delay / protein-based vaccine
The FDA has delayed full approval of Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, requesting post-marketing data despite prior EUA status. Internal agency turmoil and political interference are contributing to regulatory delays and shifting vaccine policy directions.
SK scores vital win in patent dispute with Moderna
April 23, 2025 / SK bioscience mRNA / Moderna patent dispute / mRNA vaccine technology
SK bioscience won a key patent dispute against Moderna, with South Korea’s IP board ruling Moderna’s mRNA patent invalid. This clears a regulatory path for SK’s mRNA vaccine pipeline, including its Japanese encephalitis candidate GBP560.
// Research & Development
Empathy might be retained in Alzheimer’s disease
April 23, 2025 / Alzheimer’s disease empathy / dementia social cognition / emotional empathy Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s patients may retain or even enhance emotional empathy, despite declines in other social cognition skills. This preserved empathy could support social connection and psychological care strategies, offering a unique cognitive strength amid neurodegeneration.
Statin use may improve survival in patients with some blood cancers
April 23, 2025 / CLL survival statins / statins blood cancer / ibrutinib statin benefits / SLL cancer treatment / statins cancer mortality
Statin use at the start of treatment was associated with a 61% reduction in cancer-specific mortality in patients with CLL or SLL receiving targeted therapies, suggesting a potential survival benefit that warrants further clinical investigation.
Studies zoom in on clues to why Lyme disease persists and which antibiotic to prescribe
April 23, 2025 / Lyme disease persistence / Borrelia burgdorferi research / Lyme antibiotic resistance / chronic Lyme treatment / Science Translational Medicine Lyme
Two new studies in Science Translational Medicine reveal key biological traits of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease bacterium, offering insights into its persistence post-treatment and potential guidance for improving antibiotic therapy selection.
Electronic alerts could improve survival for patients with severe aortic stenosis
April 23, 2025 / severe aortic stenosis / aortic valve replacement outcomes / electronic provider alerts / Circulation 2025 study / UCSF cardiology research
Electronic alerts to providers significantly improved treatment rates and survival in patients with severe aortic stenosis by increasing referrals, confirmatory diagnostics, and timely aortic valve replacement, according to a UCSF–Mass General Brigham randomized trial published in Circulation.
Bristol Myers’ schizophrenia drug Cobenfy stumbles as adjunctive treatment, denting blockbuster plan
April 23, 2025 / Cobenfy trial failure / schizophrenia adjunct therapy / PANSS score BMS / Karuna Therapeutics acquisition / Alzheimer’s psychosis drug potential
Bristol Myers Squibb’s schizophrenia drug Cobenfy failed to demonstrate significant benefit as an adjunctive treatment in the Phase 3 Arise trial. Despite modest numerical improvements, the results did not reach statistical significance, impacting its projected blockbuster potential.
// Politics
Why Trump’s pharma tariffs are a political minefield
April 22, 2025 / Trump pharma tariffs / drug pricing backlash / pharmaceutical supply chain risk / U.S. drug shortage policy / healthcare cost inflation
The Trump administration’s proposed pharmaceutical tariffs could worsen drug shortages and raise consumer costs, particularly for brand-name drugs and high-deductible plan holders. Experts warn that tariffs may backfire politically and economically in the already fragile U.S. drug supply chain.
Leave pharma out of any European Union tariff retaliation, Government told
April 17, 2025 / EU pharma tariffs / drug supply chain risk / Ireland pharmaceutical exports / EU pharma regulation reform / patient access to medicine
Ireland’s pharmaceutical sector urges the government to prevent EU retaliation against U.S. tariffs from impacting drug exports, warning of risks to patient access and supply chains. The industry also opposes EU regulatory reforms that threaten investment and innovation.
Reeves to make case for trade deal in first meeting with US treasury secretary
April 18, 2025 / UK pharma exports / US drug tariffs / Rachel Reeves trade talks / UK-US trade deal / pharmaceutical trade impact
As UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves pushes for a UK-US trade deal, pharmaceuticals remain excluded from initial tariff reduction proposals—despite being Britain’s second-largest export to the US. Upcoming US tariffs on the sector could cost UK drugmakers billions in revenue.
Senator, biotech leaders gather in Roanoke to brainstorm in face of government cuts
April 18, 2025 / NIH funding cuts / biomedical research impact / indirect cost reimbursement / research grant reductions / US science competitiveness
Senator Mark Warner and biotech leaders are advocating for sustained NIH and DOE research funding amid proposed federal cuts to indirect cost reimbursements, warning of major setbacks to biomedical innovation, talent retention, and US global competitiveness in science and health.
From lab coat to lawmaking: the Sydney scientist’s mission to put facts first in Parliament
April 24, 2025 / pandemic preparedness / AI ethics in healthcare / global health security / science-based policy / intergenerational governance
Biotech expert Dr. Shawn Price is running for Australia’s first independent “77th Senate seat” to prioritize science-based, future-focused governance. His platform includes pandemic preparedness, AI ethics, and global health security, aiming to protect future generations through evidence-driven policymaking.