Astrazeneca plc has added a dual PDE3/4 inhibitor candidate to its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) portfolio via a deal worth up to $2.1 billion with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (CTTQ), a Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. subsidiary. Cambridge, U.K.-based Astrazeneca agreed to pay CTTQ $200 million up front for ex-China rights to the respiratory asset dubbed TQC-3721, as well as additional development, regulatory and sales milestones totaling up to $1.9 billion. CTTQ, of Lianyungang, China, is also eligible to receive tiered royalties ranging up to double-digit percentages based on annual net sales upon commercialization. The deal will immediately boost Astrazeneca’s multi-pronged COPD portfolio with a late-stage PDE3/4 inhibitor. TQC-3721 is positioned as a potential best-in-class small-molecule drug for chronic respiratory disorders including COPD, following the path of Verona Pharma plc's Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine).

Satellos rises on phase II data with AAK1 drug in DMD

Shares of Satellos Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ:MSLE) were trading at $9.49, up $1.28, or 15%, on six-month interim results from the phase II Trailhead study evaluating SAT-3247 in adults living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Results in four adults age 21-28 who had previously completed the phase Ia/b CL-101 study showed reduced muscle fat fraction, increased total effort, stable strength, lower creatine kinase, and a safety and tolerability profile in line with previous findings. Toronto-based Satellos developed SAT-3247, a first-in-class oral inhibitor of AAK1, to support muscle stem-cell function impaired in DMD rather than improve dystrophin levels as other approaches strive to do.

SEC reform good for life sciences startups, but getting pushback

Of all the U.S. SEC’s recent proposed rules to make going, and staying, public more attractive, the most beneficial for biopharma and med-tech startups is the amendment that would give companies the flexibility to file semi-annual rather than quarterly reports, Ben Bradford, head of external affairs at Massbio, told BioWorld. For early stage companies, that change would allow them to focus their limited resources on developing the science instead of regulatory reporting, he explained. Yet that amendment has received historic pushback, most of which isn’t positive. The SEC has received more than 200,000 comments on the less frequent reporting proposal, with about 99% of those commenters claiming the change would “blind investors,” according to Better Markets, a nonprofit watchdog that led a social media campaign opposing the change.

Seres’ SER-155 takes on immune checkpoint inhibitor-related enterocolitis

Though it’s still early stage, phase I data show Seres Therapeutics Inc.’s live biotherapeutic candidate, SER-155, could potentially offer a systemic immunosuppressive-free approach for patients who develop enterocolitis during immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. ICI-related enterocolitis, or irEC, affects roughly 25% of all patients on ICI treatment, requiring systemic immunosuppressive therapies and halting of ICI treatment. In an investigator-sponsored trial conducted by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, top-line results showed 12 of 15 patients (80%) achieved an immunosuppressive-free clinical response at day 15, assessed as the primary endpoint.

Island Pharma targets Ebola species lacking approved treatments

Island Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has secured government and ethics approvals to deploy its investigational antiviral galidesivir in patients infected during the escalating Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Africa, giving the small Australian biotech a rare opportunity to collect prospective human data in an active filovirus emergency. The Melbourne-based company said galidesivir will be made available under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Investigational Interventions framework, or MEURI. As previously reported by BioWorld, WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17, 2026, following an increase in cases and clusters of death in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. “What Island is stepping into right now is not what you’d expect from your regular biotech progress update,” Island CEO David Foster said during a July 8 conference call. “We are entering one of the deadliest … viral emergencies on earth.”

FENS 2026: Shedding light on the sheddome

At the recently opened FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona – the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies' flagship congress and Europe's largest neuroscience meeting – a symposium on ectodomain shedding showcased how soluble synaptic proteins are emerging as both biomarkers and therapeutic candidates for disorders ranging from autism to schizophrenia. Long regarded as a process that simply terminates protein function, proteolysis is increasingly being recognized as a mechanism of intercellular signaling, a theme that emerged across multiple presentations. M. Dolores Martín-de-Saavedra, of the Complutense University of Madrid, described how proteins generated through shedding ectodomains, the extracellular portions of proteins that span the cell membrane, can actively regulate neuronal communication and how disruptions in this process may contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Science fiction realized: BCI tech is here

After decades of clinical research and false starts, have Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems finally arrived? With developments accelerating in the field, BioWorld's special series explores the advancements in the space, looking at the implanted technologies, their potential to transfer care, what’s driving investor interest and the challenges ahead.

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