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With big shifts happening at the upper ranks at both Pfizer and AbbVie while layoffs continue to sweep up Novartis, Roche and beyond, this week we bring you the numbers on a key aspect of every job: pay. From CEOs to rank-and-file workers, the biotech salary analysis covers it all — be sure to check the whole series out.
Deep dive on pay packages
Andrew Dunn is back with his annual series examining CEO and employee pay trends in biopharma. After reviewing hundreds of annual proxy filings, he crunched the numbers on the highest-paid CEOs in biopharma, ranked 177 life sciences companies for the best (and worst) paying ones, tallied the median pay at the world’s biggest pharma and biotech companies and broke out the top highest-paying companies in biotech hubs like Boston, Bay Area and San Diego. But the largest windfall by far came from M&A, as you can see on the list of 10 biotech executives who reaped the largest golden parachutes.
Lilly strikes $3.2B buyout
In its first biotech acquisition announcement this year, Eli Lilly said it plans to pay $3.2 billion in cash for Morphic Therapeutic, a biotech working on oral integrin drugs for chronic diseases, as the autoimmune space continues to drum up pharma interest. Research from Morphic founder Timothy Springer helped lead to Entyvio, and while Morphic has other programs, Lilly’s primary interest was in one specific integrin inhibitor, Springer said.
Pfizer’s R&D head to depart
Pfizer will be searching for a new chief scientific officer as longtime leader Mikael Dolsten is set to depart. Dolsten will stay in his role until a successor joins the company — which is likely to take until next year. When they arrive, they’ll face a handful of important issues that are likely to determine the future of the company’s R&D efforts and products, Max Bayer writes. In one of Dolsten’s last major moves, Pfizer also announced it’s moving a modified release version of its oral GLP-1 candidate into dose-finding studies.
SPOTLIGHT
Are ‘next-gen’ biotech acquirers experiencing their moment?
Funding for biotech startups had its best quarter in two years — sort of
FINANCING
- Flagship Pioneering, the 25-year-old life sciences incubator and investor behind such companies as Moderna, reeled in $3.6 billion to build another 25 or so companies. In an interview with Kyle LaHucik, CEO Noubar Afeyan said pharma partnerships are becoming a bigger deal for its companies, as are large language models and machine learning.
- In pivot to buzzy ADCs, London biotech Myricx raises $114M with Lilly’s support
- VC firm emerges to boost Austrian biotech scene that’s ‘ready to break out’
- German antibody company secures €63M for autoimmune disease program
- Biovance debuts with €51M to lift up biotech scene in Portugal and southern Europe
- Illumina competitor Element Biosciences raises $277M in Series D
- With cash expected to run dry, Inventiva ramps up search for funding
- Digital health deals rallied in the first half of 2024, though funding still trails last year
STARTUPS
- Exclusive: Gene insertion startup launches with new integrase technology from University of Hawaii
- Exclusive: Courier Health raises $16.5M Series A to help biopharma companies bring together patient data
CELL/GENE TX
- A meta-analysis of CAR-T cell therapy studies found that just over half of cancer patient deaths that are not because of relapse are due to infections. “The main takeaway as clinicians is infections, infections, infections,” a lead author told Lei Lei Wu. “We need to do a better job at reporting infections, managing and preventing infections.”
- UniQure trumpets mid-stage data for Huntington’s disease gene therapy
PEOPLE
- Roche’s Spark Therapeutics is letting staffers go and has “discontinued” several early-stage programs, Kyle LaHucik reported. The company said the changes are part of a pivot “to accelerate its pipeline and help bring more therapies to patients, sooner.”
- In an effort to “evolve” its global development organization, Novartis is set to exit a technical research and development site in San Diego, the Swiss pharma confirmed. The “phased exit” will affect about 100 staffers, but the company will maintain a research presence in the area.
- AbbVie CSO Tom Hudson to retire, replaced by medical chief
- Mikael Dolsten isn’t the only one moving on from Pfizer; Lilly names interim finance chief
- Metagenomi science chief departs, just a few months after IPO
- JPM’s life sciences VC team is growing
PHARMA
- Patients receiving Eli Lilly’s diabetes medicine Mounjaro were “significantly more likely” to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss compared to those on Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, according to a new observational study that could preview the results of a high-stakes, head-to-head trial of the compounds.
- Only about 15% of people who began taking GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy stuck with them after two years, according to a new analysis by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics. The findings could make the case for insurers and employers to cover the drugs even tougher, Shelby Livingston writes.
- Roche to reintroduce ocular implant two years after pulling it off the market
- Senate unanimously passes bipartisan pharma patent bill
- AbbVie’s Humira is still on top, but biosimilars are chipping away at its dominance
- Indivior axes schizophrenia drug and shrinks revenue guidance
- CMS rolls out policy proposals on non-opioid drugs, radiopharmaceuticals — Lantheus stock jumps
- Arcutis tacks on atopic dermatitis approval for Zoryve cream
CHINA
- House speaker plans vote on Biosecure Act as part of China legislation push
- Chinese drugmakers still lag in R&D depth despite outpacing Europeans in new launches
DEALS
- Ipsen takes on another ADC, this time from a China-based biotech
- Thermo Fisher closes $3.1B Olink acquisition after UK antitrust review is cleared
- Two healthcare SPACs go public, with several more on the hunt for deals
R&D
- Amgen has stopped development of an early-stage bispecific T cell engager, a type of medicine that is core to its oncology portfolio and for which it has trademarked the BiTE acronym. The company said it’s a “business decision.”
- In less-studied female mice, scientists find hormone that could lead to new bone disease treatments
- Ideaya showcases proof-of-concept data in a boost to synthetic lethality play
- Lilly says lupus drug dropped from pipeline failed to show efficacy
- Immutep’s LAG-3 drug scores in Phase 2b head and neck cancer test
- HilleVax’s stock tumbles after Phase 2b norovirus vaccine fails in infants
FDA+
- The Supreme Court’s decision late last month to overrule a decades-old legal doctrine could lead to more uncertainty for the pharma industry, more challenges to FDA approval decisions, more guidance documents (rather than rulemakings), and likely more new legal disputes, legal scholars.
- FDA rejects Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly insulin after questioning risks
- House committee raises concerns on CDER-CBER misalignment amid 2025 funding markup
- Zevra to face FDA adcomm in August over previously rejected rare disease drug
- When can pharma companies correct online misinformation? FDA explains
LAW
- Novartis is being accused of deliberately stalling the development of an acquired IL-15 asset and letting it “wither on the vine,” costing a smaller biotech up to $940 million in milestone payments plus additional damages and costs. The lawsuit was brought by Admune Therapeutics and seller representative Aramis.
- AbbVie asks Supreme Court to reconsider ruling on attorney-client communication
- Intellia to respond to lawsuit over in vivo therapy patents
- Gilead’s HIV drug patent battle with CDC continues with government appeal
MANUFACTURING