In its fourth major biopharma deal since its 2019 founding, Repertoire Immune Medicines signed a partnership with Eli Lilly and Co. to develop tolerizing therapies for several autoimmune diseases, gaining an up-front payment of $85 million, up to $1.84 billion in development and commercial milestone payments, and potential tiered royalties. The company entered similar autoimmune-focused deals with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in 2024 and with Roche AG’s Genentech unit in 2025, as well as a prostate cancer partnership with Pfizer Inc. last month. “This is the largest deal we’ve done,” Repertoire Chairman and CEO Torben Straight Nissen told BioWorld. “I think that these deals and the Eli Lilly deal is just a powerful external validation of our proprietary Decode platform and our ability to convert that into products. … We now have four companies that have done their due diligence on our science … so we’re very proud of that.”

FDA greenlights Tenpoint’s combo eye drop therapy for presbyopia

Tenpoint Therapeutics Ltd. won U.S. FDA approval of Yuvezzi (carbachol and brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution, 2.75%/0.1%), previously known as Brimochol PF, the first and only dual-agent eye drop for the treatment of adult presbyopia. At the same time, the firm secured $235 million through the close of its series B preferred stock financing and a credit facility. Of the total amount, $85 million came by way of the series B. With Hercules Capital, Tenpoint signed a $150 million nondilutive senior secured term loan contract.

Why many global drugs never reach Japan

For years, Japan’s “drug lag” was shorthand for slow regulatory reviews and delayed approvals compared with the U.S. and Europe. But even as regulatory timelines have shortened, review capacity has expanded and international alignment has improved, Japanese patients still face gaps in access to innovative drugs. “When we talk about drug lag in Japan today, it is less about slow regulatory review and more about whether drugs ever enter development or submission in Japan at all,” Mayumi Hasegawa, vice president of drug development solutions at Certara Consulting, told BioWorld. For example, the U.S. FDA and the EMA approved 243 new drugs between 2016 and 2020, but about 70% of these drugs are not available in Japan.

Eikon Therapeutics seeks up to $317M raise in Nasdaq IPO

Oncology-focused Eikon Therapeutics Inc. set the terms of its IPO Jan. 28, selling 17.648 million shares at a price range between $16 to $18 per share. At the top of the range, the biopharma would raise about $317.7 million. Eikon is led by high-profile CEO and Chairman Roger M. Perlmutter and Chief Medical Officer Roy Baynes, both known for their roles in developing Keytruda (pembrolizumab) at Merck & Co. Inc. Incorporated in Delaware in 2019, Eikon uses a proprietary single molecule tracking system to develop novel therapies and in-license promising assets.

Deepmind’s AI model predicts the effect of variants in dark genome

Google Deepmind is shedding light on the dark genome with its latest AI model, which is trained to decipher the 98% of DNA that does not code for proteins. Alphagenome is designed to predict how variants in the regulatory genome exert their effects on the expression of the genes they control. Deepmind expects one of its leading applications to be in sorting through the many variants thrown up by genome-wide association studies of traits and diseases, to identify which ones really matter and are potential drug targets.

Senators, experts agree country of origin not an Rx trade secret

The days of the U.S. FDA considering as trade secrets country-of-origin info for drugs and their ingredients have to end, the Senate Aging Committee was told at its hearing today on truth in labeling. “It’s unconscionable that we require transparency for our dinner and for our denims,” but not for medicines, said Stephen Schondelmeyer, a professor of pharmaceutical management and economics at the University of Minnesota’s College of Pharmacy. The committee didn’t seem to need much convincing. In opening the hearing, Chair Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he was introducing the Clear Labels Act that would require manufacturers of every drug prescribed and sold in the U.S. to disclose the name and location of producers of each active pharmaceutical ingredient in the drug, as well as the packer/distributor – either on the label or through an electronic portal.

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Also in the news

Altimmune, Applied, Biogen, Biomind, Biontech, Boehringer Ingelheim, Calcimedica, Convergent, Cycle, Drug Farm, Elysium, EMS, Enveric, Glaukos, GRI Bio, Guerbet, Hanmi, Idorsia, Immix, Johnson & Johnson, Laboratorios Sanfer, Omass, Pacira, PDS, Poolbeg, Rakovina, Rani, Regenxbio, Sensorion, Shorla, Stellular, Taiho, Vera