Johnson & Johnson is paying $3.05 billion in cash to take over privately held Halda Therapeutics Inc. in a deal that brings aboard HLD-0915, in the works for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Recently disclosed phase I/II data showed that the candidate was well-tolerated with encouraging signs of antitumor activity, including reductions in prostate-specific antigen and responses by RECIST criteria in patients with advanced disease. Boston-based Halda is developing what’s called the Regulated Induced Proximity Targeting Chimeras modality that works by a novel “hold and kill” mechanism – meant to bypass drug resistance – for cancer and other diseases.

Jazz, Zymeworks unveil positive zanidatamab phase III data

A potentially $1.76 billion oncology deal created a little more than three years ago between partners Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Zymeworks Inc. is now more tightly focused. Positive top-line results for the phase III Herizon-GEA-01 study of the HER2-targeted bispecific antibody zanidatamab in locally advanced or metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma are moving the stock for both companies. Jazz’s (NASDAQ:JAZZ) was up 21% at midday, with shares going for $171.70 each and Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) also shot up 31% at midday, with shares at $24.35. Jazz inlicensed the regional rights to zanidatamab from Zymeworks in October 2022 in a deal potentially worth $1.76 billion, plus royalties. Leerink Partners Research analyst Marc Goodman wrote in an investors’ note that Jazz now has a legitimate $1 billion and upward oncology asset.

Scrutiny of NIH continues amid funding disruptions

Over a span of five-and-a-half months this year, 3.5% of the more than 11,000 clinical trials funded by the U.S. NIH had their grants terminated, according to an article published in today’s JAMA Internal Medicine. The authors of the article put those numbers in perspective: About one in every 30 trials and more than 74,000 trial participants were affected by grant funding disruptions between the end of February and mid-August. If that isn’t enough to draw scrutiny, the NIH last week notified Jenna Norton, a program official at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, that she was being placed on administrative leave with pay. No reason was given, except that it was not a disciplinary measure. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, claimed it was retaliation for Norton’s criticism of the administration.

Two new VC funds promise fresh capital for European biotech

Fresh cash infusions are on the way for European biotech after two leading venture capital firms announced large new funds. Asset-focused Medicxi has closed an oversubscribed €500 million (US$580 million) fund, while Sofinnova Partners exceeded its target of €500 million to close its Capital XI fund at €650 million (US$753.5 million).

‘Encyclopedia’ of xenotransplantation reveals drivers of immune rejection

By transplanting a pig kidney into a brain-dead person, researchers have been able to conduct the first long-term study of the physiological processes occurring in both the transplant recipient and the pig organ for 61 days. The findings were published in the Nov. 14, 2025, issue of Nature in two papers – one focusing on physiological and immunological measurements, the other on multiomics.Together, the two studies provide “an in-depth granular map of what is happening when you take an organ from another species and put it into a human,” Robert Montgomery told reporters at a press conference announcing the studies. They will “be that encyclopedia that we will all refer to, to begin to understand the different phenotypes … that are quite distinct from what we see in human-to-human transplantation.” Montgomery is the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Chair and Professor of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and Director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.

Also in the news

Bavarian Nordic, Biogen, Biohaven, BMS, Coave, Cosmo, Diamyd, Domain, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Eupraxia, Fennec, Fondazione Telethon, Galderma, Gate, H. Lundbeck, Hyloris, Ingenus, Ionis, Janssen, Kura, Kyowa Kirin, Lupin, Otsuka, Sanofi, Tela, Verastem, Windtree