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A new BIO report outlines the state of early-stage funding for biotechs. Plus, during BIO 2025, legal experts unpacked IRA litigation—here’s what you should know. (761 words, 3 minutes, 48 seconds) |
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Early-stage funding for emerging biotechs is scarce, finds BIO report
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Early-stage funding for emerging biotechs has grown scarce, according to BIO’s report, “The State of Emerging Biotech Companies: Investment, Deal, and Pipeline Trends.”
Why it matters: “We do know that companies are reducing their pipelines. We do know that companies are laying off individuals. We do know that companies are having a challenge of raising funds,” said Chad Wessel, BIO’s Director of Industry Analysis, in an interview with Bio.News.
Venture capital dries up: New series A-1 investment in biopharma remained flat between 2023 and 2024, BIO’s report said. In 2025, biotech startup funding dropped from $2.6 billion in the first quarter to $900 million in the second, according to reports.
Less venture capital: “The IPO market has still been challenging,” Wessel said. “We went from having 40 companies a year going public, down to 15 in 2023, and now we’re back up in 2025, but it’s still down from the pre-COVID era timeframe.”
More layoffs: There were 65 layoff announcements in Q1 2025, which exceeded the numbers for the previous three quarters. “Sometimes it’s just the nature of the economy. But the amount that we’ve seen in the last few years is quite a bit higher,” said Wessel.
The bottom line: After dropping to pre-COVID levels, early-stage funding continues to contract, and political headwinds are making things worse, Wessel said. “It is leaning towards a very challenging environment for a lot of companies,” he concluded.
Read more on Bio.News. |
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BIO 2025: Legal experts unpack the cases against IRA price controls |
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Litigation opposing drug price controls in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is moving slowly, but IRA’s continuing rollout may create new opportunities to oppose the “negotiation” program, said experts at BIO 2025 in Boston.
10 lawsuits challenge the selection of drugs for negotiation, the negotiation procedure, and other steps along the way, said panel moderator John Delacourt, J.D., BIO’s Deputy General Counsel and VP – Health, Regulatory & Commercial Operations.
Why it matters: Even if no ruling completely overturns the process, the harms of drug price “negotiation” could be softened by rulings that partially favor the industry, Delacourt said.
The Novo Nordisk and Novartis cases in the Third Circuit, with oral arguments in April, “touched on some of the thornier issues,” but the complexity of those cases might mean the decision will take some time to compose, said Georgetown Law’s Zachary Baron, J.D.
The Chamber of Commerce case claims that the price negotiation program exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority. “We haven't really gotten to the merits of those claims yet,” Baron said.
The PhRMA case, in Texas, would be appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which “certainly tends to be more skeptical of aggressive federal regulatory programs,” Baron said. “I would say there was a little bit of hostility towards the negotiation program itself.”
What’s next: Seven of the 10 cases are waiting on a decision, and appeals can be expected. “We’re in the third inning of a nine-inning game on this,” said Arnold & Porter’s Jeffrey L. Handwerker, J.D. Read more on Bio.News. |
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AstraZeneca announced an additional $50 billion in investment in the U.S. by 2030—including a Virginia facility that would be AstraZeneca’s largest single manufacturing investment in the world. The funding will also pay for expansions or new facilities in California, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Texas, as well as new clinical trial sites in the U.S. “This investment is expected to create tens of thousands of new, highly skilled direct and indirect jobs across the country powering growth and delivering next generation medicines for patients in America and worldwide,” BIO member AstraZeneca said.
Novavax announced preclinical success with its bird flu vaccine candidate. The preclinical data showed that Novavax's H5N1 avian pandemic influenza vaccine candidate, “leveraging Novavax's recombinant, protein-based nanoparticle technology and Matrix-M® adjuvant, induced robust immune responses by either single or two-dose intranasal (IN) or intramuscular (IM) administration in nonhuman primates,” BIO member Novavax said.
What should men ask about prostate cancer? 1 in 8 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 die from the disease. The death rate has declined by about half from 1993 to 2022 due to earlier detection and advances in treatment, according to the American Cancer Society. Because awareness is important to survival, Bio.News spoke with the National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions (NSPCC) about how the organization increases awareness and advances biomedical innovation, as well as key questions men should ask their doctors.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO Yvonne Greenstreet promotes the MINI Act in STAT. “Scientists have developed a revolutionary new class of medicines with the power to halt or even reverse disease. These medicines—genetically targeted therapies, or GTTs—use RNA or DNA to address the root cause of disease rather than treating only symptoms,” Greenstreet writes. “But a technical oversight in legislation passed by Congress in 2022 is now making it much harder for biotech companies to pursue these medicines.” She encourages passage of the MINI Act, which would give GTTs the same 11-year exemption from Inflation Reduction Act price controls that biologics currently receive. Read more.
FasterCures holds “Vital Voices” webinar series to help patient groups engage with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The first webinar, “Strength in Numbers: Coalitions Amplifying Patient Voices,“ is set for Aug. 5, from 1-2 pm ET and will focus on how participating in coalitions can amplify collective patient voices, align priorities, and leverage resources. The webinar will highlight how coalitions are successfully engaging CMS across its diverse decision-making processes. Read more and register here. |
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