Logan Mavar - BioPharmaBrief

ESMO 2026: Four Advances Shaping the Future of Cancer Care

Logan Mavar ― October 28, 2026

From personalized cancer vaccines to more sensitive methods of detecting recurrence, findings from ESMO 2026 highlight progress across cancer treatment and monitoring. Cancer research is advancing on several fronts, with new therapies improving patient outcomes and increasingly sensitive technologies changing how disease can be detected and monitored. At the 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, held October 23–27 in Madrid, researchers presented clinical findings spannin

The Next Big Opportunity for AI in Drug Discovery

Logan Mavar ― October 21, 2026

AI could help researchers predict which drugs will succeed or fail before clinical trials, potentially saving in development costs and opening the door to more treatments. Most experimental drugs entering clinical trials never reach patients. Between 2011 and 2020, just 7.9% of drug development programs entering Phase I ultimately received FDA approval. The remaining programs represent years of research, substantial investment, and therapeutic possibilities that never materialized. Artificial

Inside Endomimetics: From One Biomaterial to a Biotech Portfolio

Logan Mavar ― October 14, 2026

A conversation with Endomimetics CEO Joseph Garner, Ph.D. Nearly 60% of arteriovenous fistulas fail to mature. These surgically created connections between an artery and a vein are a lifeline for dialysis patients, but when they fail, patients may need additional procedures and prolonged use of temporary catheters. Endomimetics’ Bionanomatrix gel reduced intimal hyperplasia, a major cause of fistula failure, by more than 70% in rodents while improving vein diameter

What Happens When Your Watch Becomes a Medical Tool?

Logan Mavar ― October 7, 2026

Everyday wearables are gaining medical capabilities, opening new possibilities for early detection and care between appointments. The watch that delivers your text messages can now flag patterns suggesting high blood pressure. The band you wear to track workouts can record an electrocardiogram. FDA-cleared medical features are becoming part of devices people are already wearing. That creates a different starting point for care. A potential problem can surface before someone

The Psychedelic Drug Race Is Moving Beyond the Molecule

Logan Mavar ― September 23, 2026

Session length, staffing, support requirements and repeat dosing may determine which treatments reach patients at scale. Psychedelic drugs are moving closer to FDA approval. Now comes the harder test: building treatment models that healthcare systems can actually deliver. That challenge was the focus of a recent FDA public hearing on the potential therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs in supervised settings. The agency sought input on provider training, patient monitoring, insurance

Takeda Sets the Benchmark for a New Class of Sleep-Wake Medicines

Logan Mavar ― September 8, 2026

Takeda secured the first U.S. approval. Alkermes and Lilly are testing how far orexin receptor agonists can extend beyond narcolepsy type 1. Takeda’s Orzeyful recently became the first orexin receptor agonist approved in the United States for narcolepsy type 1, introducing a treatment that directly targets the biological pathway disrupted by the disease. Narcolepsy type 1 is caused by the loss of neurons that produce orexin, a signaling

Two Pills Take on Markets Built by Injections

Jon Nugent, Logan Mavar ― September 8, 2026

Two pills use different molecular strategies to compete in markets established by injected therapies. In less than four months, the FDA approved two pills built around different approaches to oral drug design. Eli Lilly’s Foundayo⁠ activates the GLP-1 receptor with a nonpeptide small molecule. Merck’s Lipfendra⁠ delivers a macrocyclic peptide orally to block PCSK9. Both drugs enter classes whose clinical value was established largely by injected therapies.