The essential biotech updates of the day

Morning! Today, we talk about bioethics, catch up on some reports from ESMO, and wonder aloud and in print over a surprising liquid biopsy bet.

The need-to-know this morning

• Ascendis Pharma reported positive results from a Phase 3 study of  Transcon CNP in children with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. Children treated with the Ascendis drug grew an average of 1.49 centimeters in a year relative to a placebo, achieving the primary goal of the study.
• BioMarin Pharmaceutical was trading lower in the pre-market session on investors’ concerns that its currently marketed treatment for achondroplasia, called Voxzogo, could lose market share to Ascendis’ more convenient treatment, if approved.

Is Genentech losing its zest for innovation?

Genentech has long been known for innovation, but that reputation has been questioned in the wake of multiple rounds of layoffs and the company’s closure of its cancer immunology group. On top of that, the departure of renowned scientist Ira Mellman has sparked fears that Genentech has a new strategy: moving away from in-house innovation and instead licensing external therapies, which some worry will lessen its scientific rigor.

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