Shares of Immunovant Inc. (NASDAQ:IMVT) gained 35% after the firm disclosed early but “compelling” data from a phase IIb study testing next-generation FcRn inhibitor IMVT-1402 in patients with difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2T RA), including those whose disease has persisted despite treatment with TNF and JAK inhibitors.

Re-Aim Therapeutics Ltd. has launched with £7 million (US$9.4 million) in seed investment backing and a focus on developing functional cures for T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.

Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.

Create Medicines Inc. closed a $122 million series B financing round to support its pipeline of therapies that use mRNAs delivered via liquid nanoparticles to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) in T cells, NK cells and myeloid cells inside the body of patients. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company estimates the capital will last through 2028, providing the opportunity for multiple clinical readouts of its various products.

Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.

Create Medicines Inc. has closed a $122 million series B funding round to support progression of its pipeline of in vivo CAR therapies across autoimmune disease and oncology. The company’s proprietary mRNA-LNP platform directly engineers T cells, NK cells and myeloid cells inside the body to enable scalable, repeat-dose, off-the-shelf immunotherapies.

Directed evolution has become a central pillar in gene therapy. This engineering strategy enables the generation of more efficient variants of genetic editors and delivery vectors. Molecular diversification methods are increasingly sophisticated and are now accelerated by machine learning and AI tools, as showcased at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) held in Boston this week.

In a deal potentially worth up to $15.2 billion, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. is joining efforts with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. to advance 13 early development programs in the fields of oncology, hematology and immunology. Shanghai-based Hengrui will hold exclusive rights in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, while Princeton, N.J.-based BMS will hold exclusive rights in the rest of the world.

Epirium Bio Inc. has developed a series of small-molecule 15-PGDH inhibitors, the phase II-ready MF-300 and preclinical candidate MF-1305, as potential therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).