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Today’s Big News

Mar 25, 2025

Merck & Co. pens $200M upfront deal for Hengrui's midstage heart disease med

Cassava stops Alzheimer’s program as simufilam fails another phase 3

UPDATE: DOGE removes 91 federal site closures from website, including 3 FDA facilities

Kaken agrees to $180M deal to develop Alumis' lead TYK2 inhibitor in Japan

Drug development cost pharma $2.2B per asset in 2024 as GLP-1s drive financial return: Deloitte

Character Biosciences lands $93M to lead pair of macular degeneration assets into the clinic

GSK takes advantage of natural experiment to study whether shingles vaccine can reduce dementia risk

Trump again threatens tariffs on pharmaceuticals in 'not too distant' future

Featured

Merck & Co. pens $200M upfront deal for Hengrui's midstage heart disease med

By James Waldron

Merck & Co. is handing over $200 million to China’s Hengrui Pharma for a phase 2-stage lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) inhibitor.

Cassava stops Alzheimer’s program as simufilam fails another phase 3

By Nick Paul Taylor

Cassava Sciences has given up on simufilam in Alzheimer’s disease. Months after seeing one phase 3 trial fail, the biotech is planning to stop development altogether after chalking up another late-stage flop.

UPDATE: DOGE removes 91 federal site closures from website, including 3 FDA facilities

By Gabrielle Masson

President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has again revised savings estimates tied to federal site closures, nearly halving the unit’s initial forecast. The agency has also removed 91 federal sites previously listed on its “wall of receipts” for planned lease cancellations, including three FDA sites.

Kaken agrees to $180M deal to develop Alumis' lead TYK2 inhibitor in Japan

By James Waldron

Kaken Pharmaceutical will hand Alumis $40 million in the near term for the rights to develop a late-stage tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor as a dermatology treatment in Japan.

Drug development cost pharma $2.2B per asset in 2024 as GLP-1s drive financial return: Deloitte

By Gabrielle Masson

The average cost for a Big Pharma to develop a drug in 2024 was $2.23 billion, up from $2.12 billion the year before.

Character Biosciences lands $93M to lead pair of macular degeneration assets into the clinic

By Darren Incorvaia

A New Jersey-based biotech is looking to become the main character in the age-related macular degeneration field. Character Biosciences has landed a $93 million series B to progress its precision medicine candidates through clinical development.

GSK takes advantage of natural experiment to study whether shingles vaccine can reduce dementia risk

By Darren Incorvaia

After multiple studies have suggested a link between its shingles vaccine and dementia prevention, GSK is taking advantage of a natural experiment to look for more definitive evidence that the shot can reduce dementia risk.

Trump again threatens tariffs on pharmaceuticals in 'not too distant' future

By Angus Liu

After threatening a month ago to impose “25% or higher” tariffs on foreign-made pharmaceuticals, President Donald Trump has doubled down on the pledge, although the exact timing and scope of their implementation remains unclear.

Trump nominates Susan Monarez as CDC director

By Dave Muoio

The public health agency's current acting director has a background in biomedical research and 20 years of experience within government bodies.

AstraZeneca, Pfizer rebuked over breaking UK drug marketing rules on LinkedIn use

By Nick Paul Taylor

The PMCPA has dug into the industry’s LinkedIn activities once again. AstraZeneca received the harshest censure in the latest set of cases, taking a telling-off over one of its own posts, while Pfizer escaped with a slap on the wrist after its employees got too liberal with their LinkedIn likes.

Abbott launches intravascular lithotripsy trial aimed at clearing coronary arteries

By Conor Hale

Abbott's approach will use high-energy sound pressure waves to crack obstructive deposits within the blood vessel before the placement of a stent.

Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Fierce 15 of 2025: A breakdown

Executive Editor Heather Landi and Senior Writer Paige Minemyer sit down to chat about the evolution of the Fierce 15 project and honorees.

Breaking down pharma’s fourth-quarter sales boom

Ways providers can simplify patient billing

Resources

Whitepaper

The Oncology Market: 2025 Outlook

Read about four trends that will shape the innovations, therapies, & market landscape in oncology during 2025 & beyond.

Presented by Blue Matter, strategic consultants in the life sciences

Whitepaper

Redefining vaccine trial recruitment

Discover how to revolutionize your vaccine trials with Avacare's latest white paper. Gain exclusive access to innovative, data-driven recruitment strategies that ensure diverse, efficient, and high-quality vaccine trials.

Sponsored by: Avacare Clinical Research Network

Whitepaper