ASCO ‘a nice bubble to be in’ as federal cancer research faces cuts

Today’s Big News

Jun 2, 2025

Bristol Myers inks $11B BioNTech deal to join bispecific gold rush, leaping ahead of Merck and Pfizer


AstraZeneca's oral SERD tied to 56% PFS benefit in phase 3 breast cancer trial


ASCO’s bubble of hope: Execs focus on ‘rewriting textbooks’ in cancer care at conference


J&J shares survival data on prostate cancer bispecific, furthering broad but solitary pursuit of KLK2


Regeneron pens $2B pact for Hansoh's potential obesity rival to Lilly's Zepbound


Bicara ties antibody to 46% 2-year survival rate for head and neck cancer subset


Immatics PRAME cell therapy tied to 56% response rate in melanoma study


Actuate's pancreatic cancer drug boosts survival by 3 months in phase 2 study


Sanofi pays $15M for another STAT6 degrader from fruitful Nurix collab


Kite's CAR-T passes lymphoma safety trial with flying colors


Introducing Fierce Medtech's Fierce 15

The Top Line Podcast: Don’t miss out on the newest episode. Listen now.

 

Featured

Bristol Myers inks $11B BioNTech deal to join bispecific gold rush, leaping ahead of Merck and Pfizer

Bristol Myers Squibb is paying BioNTech $3.5 billion to board the PD-1/L1xVEGF-A bandwagon. The deal, which features up to $7.6 billion in milestones, gives BMS a 50% stake in one of the leading candidates in the hottest area of immuno-oncology.
 

Top Stories

ASCO: AstraZeneca's oral SERD tied to 56% PFS benefit in phase 3 breast cancer trial

AstraZeneca has produced data to back up its blockbuster ambitions for camizestrant, tying the oral SERD to a 56% improvement in progression-free survival in a phase 3 breast cancer study.

ASCO’s bubble of hope: Execs focus on ‘rewriting textbooks’ in cancer care at conference

The first half of this year been riddled with market volatility and geopolitical tension. But 2025’s American Society of Clinical Oncology conference largely isn’t reflecting that turmoil.

Delivering the Future of Radiopharmaceuticals with Precision

Radiopharma is revolutionizing modern medicine. Discover how precision logistics empowers faster, safer delivery of life-impacting therapies when every second counts.

ASCO: J&J shares survival data on prostate cancer bispecific, furthering broad but solitary pursuit of KLK2

Johnson & Johnson has shared more data on its multifront attack on KLK2, linking a bispecific antibody to 7.9 months progression-free survival in hard-to-treat prostate cancer patients.

Avoiding Costly Clinical Trial Delays Takes More Than Breaking Down Silos

When clinical trial steps are managed separately, the study suffers from compounded delays. Discover proven solutions from trusted industry experts.

Regeneron pens $2B pact for Hansoh's potential obesity rival to Lilly's Zepbound

Regeneron is paying Hansoh Pharma $80 million upfront for a phase 3-stage GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist the companies believe can hold its own against Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

Forging the future of cell therapy: Bayer and BlueRock’s unique journey

Discover how Bayer and BlueRock are redefining biotech partnerships. From breakthrough Parkinson’s therapies to a unique “arm’s-length” model, this episode of The Top Line dives into what makes their collaboration a blueprint for the future.

ASCO: Bicara ties antibody to 46% 2-year survival rate for head and neck cancer subset

Bicara Therapeutics has unveiled updated data for its bifunctional antibody paired with Keytruda in head and neck cancer, including a first look at overall survival data for HPV-negative patients as the biotech enrolls for a pivotal trial in the indication.

Precision medicine’s next frontier: unlocking the power of biospecimens

Austin Read of Thermo Fisher Scientific discusses how combining biospecimens with real-world data is advancing diagnostics, treatment and the future of patient care.

ASCO: Immatics PRAME cell therapy tied to 56% response rate in melanoma study

Immatics’ cell therapy has been linked to a 56% objective response rate among 32 heavily pretreated patients with metastatic melanoma.

ASCO: Actuate's pancreatic cancer drug boosts survival by 3 months in phase 2 study

Actuate Therapeutics has set its sights on getting elraglusib approved for pancreatic cancer after the glycogen synthase kinase‐3 beta (GSK-3β) drug showed a three-month survival increase in a phase 2 study.

Sanofi pays $15M for another STAT6 degrader from fruitful Nurix collab

Sanofi’s collaboration with Nurix is continuing to bear fruit, with the French pharma securing its second protein degrader program from the biotech in a matter of months.

ASCO: Kite's CAR-T passes lymphoma safety trial with flying colors

Kite Pharma’s bicistronic CAR T-cell therapy hit the main goal of a phase 1a trial, with zero dose-limiting toxicities occurring in patients with advanced B-cell lymphoma. The therapy was also tied to a complete response rate of 78% for patients receiving the highest cell therapy dose.

Introducing Fierce Medtech's Fierce 15

The companies that make up this class of the Fierce 15 exemplify the idea of moving the field forward by using innovation to build upon what’s come before.

Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker '25: SpyGlass secures $75M series D; Vima launches with $60M

The Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker records venture capital rounds of $50 million or more secured by biotechs.

Moderna's next-gen COVID shot gets FDA backing with some limitations

Moderna has picked up its third FDA approval with the agency's endorsement of mNEXSPIKE. The approval covers the vaccine's use in people 65 and older and those ages 12 to 64 with risk factors for severe COVID.

ASCO: Uneven US clinical trial spread leaves millions of women without access to breast cancer studies

Black women remain underrepresented in clinical trials for triple negative breast cancer, but distance to the sites may not be the main reason.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Biopharma briefing: Q1 trends, gene therapy updates and ASCO preview

This week on "The Top Line," we break down first-quarter Big Pharma earnings, recap the latest gene therapy developments and preview what’s ahead at ASCO.
 

Resources

Whitepaper

Building Peak Performance Go-to-Market Operations

We analyzed ~300 launches to identify the factors most correlated with commercial success & built a framework for peak go-to-market performance.
 

Upcoming Fierce Events

8-11
Sep
Philadelphia, PA
10
Sep
Philadelphia, PA
7-9
Oct
Boston, MA
12-13
Nov
Free Virtual Event
20
Nov
The Lighthouse at Pier 61 in New York City

View all events