On the heels of China’s approval of Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd.’s rovadicitinib, Sanofi SA is now inlicensing the first-in-class dual JAK/ROCK inhibitor in a deal worth more than $1.4 billion.
The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index finished 2025 up 24.07%, building slightly on its 23% gain recorded at the end of November. While the increase trailed the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index’s 32.4% rise for the year, it outperformed the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average, which advanced 12.97%.
BioWorld tracked 144 clinical trial readouts across phases I through III in January 2026, down from 215 in December. January included 15 phase III trials reporting positive results and three that failed to meet key endpoints. By phase, the month’s updates consisted of 60 from phase I, 44 from phase II and 40 from phase III.
The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index finished 2025 up 24.07%, building slightly on its 23% gain recorded at the end of November. While the increase trailed the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index’s 32.4% rise for the year, it outperformed the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average, which advanced 12.97%.
Infectious disease-focused biopharma companies continued their rebound into year-end, with the BioWorld Infectious Disease Index finishing 2025 up 68.55% after standing at a collective 28.98% at the end of October. The rally underscores a sharp reversal from earlier in the year, when the index had declined 17.83% by the end of April before recovering to a 4.34% gain by July.
More than four years after a phase II/III trial with Sanofi SA’s oral glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor venglustat was stopped for lack of benefit in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, the company rolled out mixed phase III data from two more efforts.
The EMA has started a review of Amgen Inc.’s Tavneos (avacopan) after questions were raised about the integrity of the data in the Advocate study that the agency assessed when granting approval of the vasculitis treatment in January 2022.
Citing the “totality of data,” Sanofi SA plans to file global regulatory submissions this year for amlitelimab in atopic dermatitis, despite mixed results from two additional phase III trials testing the OX40-ligand (OX40L) inhibitor the pharma firm has been positioning as a potential successor to its Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.-partnered blockbuster, Dupixent (dupilumab).
Unlike patients with HER2+ tumors, there is an unmet clinical need for patients with HER2-low expression cancers, which are refractory to trastuzumab. Sanofi SA has developed TPP-45142, a T-cell engager consisting of two nanobody domains targeting HER2 and T-cell receptor (TCR) fused to an Fc region harboring the F234A and L235A mutations to inhibit effector function.
