With FDA nod, Medtronic brings new answer for afib

Today’s Big News

Dec 14, 2023

Ex-Novartis research head Bradner tapped to lead R&D at Amgen with Reese moving to chief technology officer


Done deal: Pfizer completes $43B acquisition of Seagen, doubling its oncology pipeline


Medtronic claims first FDA approval for pulsed field ablation in afib


Biotech IPO window will ‘gradually reopen’ in 2024 as M&A remains ‘healthy’: PwC


Google launches MedLM generative AI models for the healthcare industry 

 

Featured

Ex-Novartis research head Bradner tapped to lead R&D at Amgen with Reese moving to chief technology officer

Changes are afoot atop Amgen's leadership team, with the company hiring Jay Bradner as chief scientific officer and R&D leader. Previous R&D head David Reese is now the chief technology officer.
 

Top Stories

Done deal: Pfizer completes $43B acquisition of Seagen, doubling its oncology pipeline

It’s a done deal. Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of Seagen is in the books, as it becomes the largest M&A transaction in the biopharma industry since AbbVie snatched up Allergan for $63 billion in 2019. The buyout of the antibody-drug conjugate specialist has doubled Pfizer’s pipeline to 60 programs.

Medtronic claims first FDA approval for pulsed field ablation in afib

Pulsed field ablation aims to treat atrial fibrillation, the common irregular heartbeat that carries an elevated risk of stroke, without excess heat or tissue damage compared to today's standard radiofrequency catheters.

Biotech IPO window will ‘gradually reopen’ in 2024 as M&A remains ‘healthy’: PwC

After a year when most biotechs had given up on going public in the near term, the IPO window will “gradually reopen” next year—at least that’s what analysts at PwC are betting on.

Google launches MedLM generative AI models for the healthcare industry

Google unveiled MedLM in a blog post Wednesday, noting that its first two models are now available to U.S. Google Cloud customers via the company’s Vertex AI platform, which uses machine learning workflows to guide users through the process of training, evaluating and deploying generative AI models.

Bluebird signs major coverage deal for sickle cell gene therapy Lyfgenia, easing some price concerns

Despite the high list price of Lyfgenia, bluebird has signed a large reimbursement deal for the sickle cell disease gene therapy less than a week after its FDA approval.

Reneo pulls plug on only asset after phase 2b fail, sending 70% of staff out the door and stock plummeting

Reneo Pharmaceuticals’ rare genetic disease study has missed both primary and secondary goals, prompting the California biotech to halt the development of its only asset and lay off 70% of staff.

Ahead of Medicare negotiations, White House flexes IRA's rebate powers for speedy price hikes

Four dozen Medicare Part B drugs saw their prices grow faster than inflation in the final quarter of 2022, and some drug companies raised prices faster than inflation during every quarter last year. The proposed rebates under IRA could save seniors who take the meds between $1 and $2,786 per dose, the White House said.

Vir goes Grinch, eliminating 75 posts and shuttering 2 US sites to slow erosion of $1.7B cash pile

Vir Biotechnology has delivered unseasonably gloomy news to its employees, outlining plans to eliminate 75 positions and shutter two U.S. facilities to save more than $40 million a year.

Twin Health multiplies funding with $50M for metabolic disease-reversing tech

On the heels of new research affirming its technology’s ability to help treat and even reverse the progression of Type 2 diabetes, Twin Health has raked in another round of funding to support the spread of the tech.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

'The Top Line': Turning down the toxicity of nature’s most powerful antifungal

Amphotericin B, an effective antifungal with rare resistance, is associated with significant kidney damage, prompting the search for a potential alternative. This week on "The Top Line," Fierce Biotech Research’s Helen Floersh spoke with Martin Burke, M.D., Ph.D., founder of antifungal startup Sfunga Therapeutics, to discuss the design and path to clinic of a promising new drug that could shape the future of antimicrobials.
 

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