Astrazeneca plc is investing $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand R&D and manufacturing, marking one of the largest long-term investments by a multinational pharma company in the country. The U.K.-based company also struck a deal worth up to $3.5 billion with China’s CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd. to accelerate the development of next-generation therapies for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Early data of Waldenström’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled in a trial testing Immunitybio Inc.’s off-the-shelf allogeneic CD19 chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cell therapy (CAR-NK), used in combination with anti-CD20 drug rituximab, led to durable complete responses without lymphodepletion.
There was an upbeat message for cell and gene therapy companies in the 2026 industry update presented as the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference opened on Monday, with Tim Hunt, CEO of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, telling delegates that after lean years of learning, adapting and setbacks, the sector is now self-sustaining.
A second complete response letter issued by the U.S. FDA for Atara Biotherapeutics Inc.’s allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy Ebvallo (tabelecleucel) for Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease is “a complete reversal of position” by the agency, which had previously confirmed the single arm Allele trial was enough to support a BLA under the accelerated approval pathway, the company said.
Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach, the U.S. FDA's CBER released details Jan. 11 about how it’s leveraging its growing experience with cell and gene therapies (CGTs) to exercise greater regulatory flexibility in chemical, manufacturing and control requirements for the products.
Abbvie Inc. signed a $1.1 billion New Year’s Eve deal with China’s Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., gaining ex-China rights to Zelgen’s lead oncology asset, alveltamig (ZG-006), a trispecific T-cell engager targeting delta-like ligand 3. Under terms of the deal, Abbvie will pay Zelgen an up-front fee of $100 million, and Zelgen is eligible to receive $60 million in near-term milestones and could receive up to $1.075 billion in additional development, regulatory and commercial milestones, alongside tiered royalties on net sales outside China. Zelgen retains full rights in China.
In October, the Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for their discoveries in the field of autoimmunity. As has become typical for the scientific Nobel Prizes, the award-winning research is by now several decades old. But the discoveries were the basis for ongoing research into how to prevent autoimmunity that notched significant wins in 2025, in both basic research and in the clinic.
Shares of San Diego-based Capricor Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CAPR) closed Dec. 3 at $29.96, up $23.60, or 371%, as investors cheered top-line data from the pivotal phase III Hope-3 trial testing cell therapy deramiocel in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Vigencell Inc. plans to seek conditional approval in South Korea for VT-EBV-N, an antigen-specific killer T-cell therapy for natural killer T-cell lymphoma, after gaining positive top-line data from a phase II study Nov. 25.
Immunotherapy-focused biotech company LTZ Therapetics Inc. and GSK plc are partnering to develop up to four potential first-in-class myeloid cell engagers using LTZ’s immune-engager platform to target blood cancers and solid tumors.
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