Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. has taken up its option on U.S. rights to AB2 Bio Ltd.’s interleukin-18 neutralizing drug, tadekinig alfa, triggering a payment of $30 million and opening the way to a further $650 million in development and commercialization milestones for the Swiss biotech. The rights relate to the use of tadekinig in the treatment of primary pediatric IL-18-driven hyperinflammation, an ultra-rare inherited disorder that if left untreated can lead to multi-organ failure and death.

Mimedx Group Inc. agreed to buy Sanara Medtech Inc. in a cash and stock deal for a total enterprise value of approximately $350 million as it looks to expand its surgical footprint. The move is part of Mimedx strategy to transform the company after its wound care business was hit on the back of CMS changes to reimbursement for skin substitutes.

Kaigene Inc. has entered into a licensing agreement with Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for the exclusive development and commercialization of Kaigene’s next-generation human neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) inhibitor, KG-006, in Japan.

Med-tech deal value, covering licensing agreements, joint ventures and development collaborations, through the first half (H1) of 2026 reached $5.28 billion, the second-highest H1 total behind 2023’s $6.88 billion.

The hot in vivo CAR T therapy space bubbled with news again as Johnson & Johnson (J&J) apparently forsook partner Legend Biotech Corp. and tapped Sail Biomedicines Inc. for a collaboration that will help advance the lead immune-mediated disease program as well as the broader platform technology, in a tie-up that brings incentives to expand the application of Sail's platform across more targets later.

Qnovia Inc. has secured a worldwide exclusive license to an antimicrobial peptide from the University of Virginia.

Biopharma deal value through the first half (H1) of 2026 totaled $170.11 billion, the highest H1 total in BioWorld’s records by a wide margin and a 22% increase from H1 2025’s $139.35 billion, the previous record high. Both quarters were strong, with the first quarter (Q1) contributing $79.71 billion and Q2 jumping to $90.4 billion, the highest single quarter on record after edging past Q4 2024’s $80.65 billion.

New drug approvals, financings and deals were seen across the Asia-Pacific biotech sector this week, with China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granting clearances to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral orexin receptor 2 agonist oveporexton for narcolepsy, as well as Haisco Pharmaceutical Group’s ciprocopan (HSK-39297) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

In a rare event for the European biotech sector, Dutch/Belgian immunology specialist Argenx SE is to acquire a U.S. counterpart, Forte Biosciences Inc., in an all cash deal valued at $2.2 billion. The price of $77 per share is a premium of about 86% to Forte’s volume-weighted average price since it reported positive phase Ib data for the lead program FB-102 in vitiligo on July 9.

New drug approvals, financings and deals were seen across the Asia-Pacific biotech sector this week, with China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granting clearances to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral orexin receptor 2 agonist oveporexton for narcolepsy, as well as Haisco Pharmaceutical Group’s ciprocopan (HSK-39297) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.