If the maximum fair prices the U.S. CMS announced after the first round of drug price negotiations are any indication, advocates of the government price setting may be settling for short-term wins at the cost of long-term, more sustainable price reductions driven by competition.

The approval of Ascendis Pharma A/S’ hormone replacement therapy Yorvipath (palopegteriparatide) hypoparathyroidism – the first and only treatment for adults with the rare endocrine disease – did little to sate the market’s appetite for new drugs in the indication, where a number of players are busy in various stages of development.

Biopharma deals and M&A activity in 2024 continued to surge past the last two years, with deal value in the first three quarters jumping 14.5% year-over-year. The total climbed from $130.38 billion through 3Q23 to an impressive $149.24 billion so far in 2024, the highest value in the first nine months of a year, according to BioWorld’s records. Q3 alone saw $49.81 billion in deals, following a strong Q2 at $55.26 billion. Meanwhile, M&As skyrocketed 75.5% in 2024, hitting $98.02 billion, up from $55.82 billion during the first nine months of last year.

Targeting NMDA in mental health has chalked wins but not universally, as shown by Sage Therapeutics Inc.’s failure of the placebo-controlled phase II Lightwave study testing dalzanemdor in Alzheimer's disease, which missed the primary outcome measure, another bit of bad luck from the company that was disclosed Oct. 8.

The Japanese government, industry and academia are deliberating health care policies and initiatives to boost Japan’s role in the future of regenerative medicine, experts at Bio Japan 2024 said, as the fruits of cell and gene therapy research come to fruition with new approvals.

The U.S. FDA approved 23 drugs in September, up from 22 in August and 17 in July, bringing the 2024 monthly average to nearly 20. This surpasses last year's 16 per month, 12.5 in 2022, and 17 per month in both 2021 and 2020.

U.S. biotechs and regulators ushered in the era of gene therapy in 2023, experts at Bio Japan said, but medical reform is needed to pave the way for the “year of cell therapy” in 2024 and implement wider access to ultra-expensive cell and gene therapies.