Fierce Pharma

Designing an agentic, future‑ready tech roadmap for emerging pharma

May 20, 2026 3:25pm

JR Raelin of SynOx Therapeutics and Krishna GS of ZS discuss how emerging pharma teams can design scalable, compliant tech roadmaps as agentic AI expectations rise.

AbbVie plots 85 summer layoffs tied to Allergan unit in California

May 22, 2026 12:01pm

The layoffs at AbbVie's Irvine, California, location will take effect on July 20, according to a recent WARN notice.

Europe's CHMP gives thumbs up to AZ's breast cancer drug after thumbs down from FDA adcomm

May 22, 2026 11:25am

Less than a month after an FDA advisory committee recommended rejection of AstraZeneca’s novel cancer drug, Europe’s CHMP has blessed Etcamah with a positive opinion. The EMA also has signed off on Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill.

AstraZeneca, Daiichi beat Gilead to first-line TNBC with FDA nod for Datroway

May 22, 2026 10:56am

A three-way battle among TROP2 ADCs in first-line triple-negative breast cancer is forming as AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's Datroway became the first to cross the FDA's finish line.

Novartis, AbbVie plan summer layoffs on opposite coasts

May 22, 2026 11:13am

AbbVie's 85 layoffs are tied to its Allergan Aesthetics headquarters in California, while Novartis is cutting more staff at its U.S. HQ in New Jersey.

The Oral GLP-1 Tracker: Wegovy pill trends spotlight oral obesity med's momentum

Apr 21, 2026 10:06am

Fierce Pharma is launching the weekly Oral GLP-1 Tracker, leveraging analysts’ notes and IQVIA data to monitor prescription trends and shifting market shares as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill and Eli Lilly's Foundayo vie to become the go-to oral weight-loss solution for millions.

AbbVie, GSK race up patient reputation leaderboard in the UK

May 22, 2026 9:17am

AbbVie and GSK have surged up the rankings of the pharma companies with the best reputations among U.K. patient groups, contributing to turnover at the top of the leaderboards.

Fierce Pharma Asia—Merck-Kelun ADC’s triple wins; Tools in China licensing deals; Takeda’s $885M antitrust loss

May 22, 2026 8:27am

Merck & Co. and Kelun-Biotech's sac-TMT is on fire this week with reports of three positive phase 3 trials. Local know-how, proper due diligence and AI are helpful in striking licensing deals in China, experts say. For the first time, a federal jury has found a drugmaker liable in a pay-for-delay case. And more.

Tyra creates awareness day with patient advocates to shine light on a rare cancer

May 22, 2026 4:23am

Tyra Biosciences has partnered with a patient advocacy group to create an awareness day for upper tract urothelial cancer, a rare tumor type its lead drug candidate targets.

ASCO: Merck, Kelun's sac-TMT ADC combo beats Keytruda by 65% on progression in first-line lung cancer

May 21, 2026 1:10pm

According to an abstract released ahead of the ASCO 2026 annual meeting, combining the TROP2-directed ADC with Keytruda slashed the risk of disease progression or death by a whopping 65% compared with Keytruda alone in treatment-naïve, PD-L1-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Lilly accuses church-linked pharmacies, wholesalers and more of running $200M+ rebate fraud scheme

May 21, 2026 3:05pm

A web of mail-order pharmacies, wholesalers and patient services groups connected to the self-styled largest Pentecostal denomination in the U.S. has been accused of defrauding pharma juggernaut Eli Lilly out of more than $200 million through a multi-year rebate scheme centered on the diabetes treatment Trulicity.

Inside agency view: Ogilvy Health on AI’s ‘light speed,’ nano influencers and the rise of Ria

May 21, 2026 5:41am

Healthcare agencies remain at the forefront of pharmaceutical marketing, but new technologies and shifting political dynamics are putting increasing pressure on the industry.

Amgen's Tavneos, facing liver injury scrutiny, gets label update in Japan as patient starts resume

May 21, 2026 11:10am

After the drug’s local license holder called for a brief pause in new patient starts last week, doctors in Japan can once again prescribe Amgen’s rare autoimmune disease med Tavneos (avacopan), albeit with revised safety precautions tucked into the product packaging.

Gilead pledges 400K AmBisome doses to fight visceral leishmaniasis in expanded WHO collab

May 21, 2026 11:09am

Gilead’s five-year contract with the WHO is centered on providing AmBisome to countries that make up 74% of the global visceral leishmaniasis burden, according to the company.

With Voxzogo under pressure, BioMarin touts trial win in label expansion bid

May 21, 2026 10:33am

With phase 3 results that have “exceeded” BioMarin’s expectations, the California biotech looks set up to gain a label expansion for its top-selling product, dwarfism drug Voxzogo.

Roche narrowly edges out AstraZeneca for the top-rated oncology MSL team: survey

May 15, 2026 9:53am

Roche/Genentech and AstraZeneca have the best-performing medical science liaison (MSL) teams in oncology, according to a ZoomRx survey of physicians.

Lilly, AbbVie, J&J, AZ lead an uptick in Big Pharma Q1 growth, with Novo again bringing up the rear

May 20, 2026 11:01am

Biopharma sales trended upward in the first quarter of this year as eight of the industry’s top-25 companies achieved double-digit year-over-year growth. It was an uptick from 2025 when there were six drugmakers that had double-digit increases in each of the four quarters.

Ipsen details growing pains as teens transition to adult care

May 20, 2026 11:52am

An Ipsen-commissioned survey has identified widespread problems with the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare, prompting the drugmaker to call for more resources to help people manage the shift.

Regulatory tracker: MaaT Pharma will ask Europe for re-examination of graft-versus-host disease med

Jan 2, 2026 8:07am

In this tracker, Fierce Pharma is recording the regulatory progress of in-market products, including expansions into key geographies and new indications. Some of these updates may not meet the bar for standalone stories, but we think they are still worth mentioning.

BMS taps Anthropic’s Claude for enterprise-wide AI adoption to speed R&D, global workflows

May 20, 2026 9:49am

BMS is the latest large pharma company to make a major bet on AI, announcing a sweeping agreement with Anthropic to deploy its AI tool Claude as the “shared intelligence platform” across the drugmaker’s global operations.

Amgen, bidding adieu to CFO, lures Galderma exec with hefty $12.4M bonus

May 20, 2026 9:05am

After some six years at the post, Amgen’s finance chief is telegraphing his exit from the California pharma by early next year.

Gilead inks another deal with Korean API manufacturer Yuhan, this time worth $140M

May 20, 2026 9:28am

Gilead has broadened its partnership with Korean manufacturer Yuhan, agreeing to a $140 million supply deal for active pharmaceutical ingredients for an undisclosed product.

Tarsus taps John Cena for its latest Demodex blepharitis campaign

May 20, 2026 2:51am

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has spent the past three years marketing its way out of a largely unknown but stigmatized condition: Demodex blepharitis, an eyelid disease caused by mites.

BeOne kicks off ‘One Save Changes Everything’ campaign with Tim Howard

May 18, 2026 9:23am

BeOne Medicines has tapped former professional soccer goalkeeper Tim Howard as the face of its first major corporate campaign, which plays on how the company is geared up to “save” lives.

CG Life appoints Collette Douaihy as chief creative officer as C-suite buildout continues

May 20, 2026 3:58am

CG Life has hired Collette “Coco” Douaihy, bringing the former Dentsu International, Evoke and Digitas Health leader on board to head up its creative offering to biopharma companies.