Fauna Bio Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. to apply Fauna’s Convergence artificial intelligence (AI) platform to support preclinical drug discovery efforts in obesity.

Innovent Biologics Inc. and Sanegene Bio USA Inc. (Sanegenebio) have announced they have entered into a collaboration agreement to co-develop SGB-3908, an siRNA drug candidate targeting angiotensinogen (AGT) for the treatment of hypertension.

Axxam SpA has signed a partnership agreement with Lundbeck A/S aimed at supporting Lundbeck on early-stage drug discovery programs related to CNS indications.

Immunoscape Pte Ltd. and Mink Therapeutics Inc. have entered into a collaboration agreement to discover and develop next-generation T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies against novel targets in solid tumors.

JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has signed a research collaboration, option and license agreement with Alexion, Astrazeneca Rare Disease, part of Astrazeneca plc, for the development of novel oligonucleotide therapeutics with targeted delivery to certain tissues or organs using J-Brain Cargo, JCR’s proprietary blood-brain barrier-penetrating technology.

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co. Ltd. has entered into an antibody evaluation, option and license agreement with Ona Therapeutics SL.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is committing up to DKK1.8 billion (US$260 million) to establish a research and vaccine development initiative that aims to create new or improved vaccines for respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis (TB) and influenza.