The pressure on U.S. drug prices continues, with the CMS lining up the drugs for round 3 of negotiations, which will set maximum fair prices to go into effect in 2028. The slate includes 15 drugs and, for the first time, opens the negotiations to Part B drugs, as well as Part D. Consequently, seven of the 15 selected drugs are biologics.

The prevalence of asthma differs between men and women, and furthermore, the difference changes over the lifespan. “Asthma is more common in boys than girls, but more common in women than men,” Clare Lloyd told BioWorld. Females are particularly susceptible to asthma during developmental periods of hormonal changes, also known as puberty, pregnancy and menopause.

Liver fibrosis in the course of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) could be significantly reduced using CAR T-cells generated in vivo. Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed an experimental cell therapy that eliminates only one type of liver cell, the stellate cells that express fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP). This strategy not only reduced fibrosis but also reversed liver damage.

The prevalence of asthma differs between men and women, and furthermore, the difference changes over the lifespan. “Asthma is more common in boys than girls, but more common in women than men,” Clare Lloyd told BioWorld. Females are particularly susceptible to asthma during developmental periods of hormonal changes, also known as puberty, pregnancy and menopause.

CD122 – shared beta subunit of the IL-15 and IL-2 receptors, two targets for the figurative price of one – has drawn the eyes of many drug developers, among them Anaptysbio Inc., which will roll out phase Ib results in celiac disease during the fourth quarter of this year with ANB-033. The San Diego-based firm intends to weigh the candidate in a second inflammatory disease. A phase Ib study with ANB-033 in eosinophilic esophagitis will begin this quarter.

As China emerges as a critical commercial market and a source of global innovation, the newly released 2026 edition of Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch report highlights six drugs to watch in the China market for the year ahead.

Astrazeneca plc is paying up to $630 million to acquire China rights to Abelzeta's Pharma Inc.’s C-CAR031 (AZD5851), an autologous glypican 3-targeting CAR T, securing global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the CAR T for liver cancer.

Offering $2.2 billion for Rapt Therapeutics Inc. and gaining its long-acting lead drug, ozureprubart, for food allergy and other indications, GSK plc is positioning itself to compete with market leader Xolair (omalizumab), developed by Roche AG’s Genentech unit and Novartis AG.

The compound, which showed oral bioavailability of 42.7%, performed similarly well as the licensed drug loratidine in a mouse model of the inflammatory disease allergic rhinitis.