Among three Korean biotech companies slated to sell shares on the Korea Exchange this month, Immuneoncia Therapeutics Inc. is the latest to price a ₩33.9 billion (US$24 million) Kosdaq IPO for May 19. Regenerative cell therapy maker Organoid Sciences Ltd. and antibody-drug conjugate specialist Intocell Inc. are also gearing up for respective Kosdaq listings starting next week.
Wall Street immediately set to weighing the long-term import of Cytokinetics Inc.’s regulatory delay with aficamten, but the short-term impact was evident, as shares (NASDAQ:CYTK) dipped to close May 2 at $37.35, a loss of $5.57 or 13%.
Total biopharma financings for the first four months of 2025 reached $15.48 billion, a 71% decline from $53.49 billion in 2024. Biopharma companies raised $2.4 billion in April 2025, reflecting a 37% drop from March's $3.82 billion.
First quarter 2025 results presentations were the first chance analysts have had to quiz pharma companies in public about their exposure to the threat of U.S. import tariffs and what action they are taking to mitigate the risks. BioWorld reporters have listened in to the analyst meetings and filleted out responses to the tariff question by CEOs and senior executives, to get an overview of how the sector as a whole is responding. One thing is very clear: While pharmaceuticals are for now exempt from tariffs, the industry has been bracing for their imposition whilst at the same time lobbying strongly against them, on the grounds that drug shortages could result.
Targeted protein degradation has yet to notch its first approval. But with more than two dozen agents now in clinical trials, the strategy’s ultimate clinical validation appears to be a matter of time.
In a paradigm shift from private-sector partners, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the NIH announced May 1 the development of Generation Gold Standard, a next-generation, universal vaccine platform that uses a beta-propiolactone-inactivated, whole-virus to target pandemic-prone viruses.