Patients on antihypertensive medications who still struggle with high blood pressure now have a new treatment option, following the U.S. FDA’s approval of Astrazeneca plc’s baxdrostat. Branded Baxfendy, the drug is a first-in-class aldosterone synthase inhibitor, though it could be joined soon by potential competitor Mineralys Therapeutics Inc., which has a December 2026 PDUFA date for its aldosterone synthase inhibitor, lorundrostat.

Temperature matters when determining pH levels. Whether that level should be measured at a standard room temperature or refrigerated matters even more, at least in Actelion Ltd.’s infringement litigation against Mylan Inc. According to Johnson & Johnson’s Actelion, the pH level in epoprostenol, the key ingredient in its hypertension drug Veletri, should be measured at a refrigerated temperature when it comes to Mylan’s generic formulation.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. is paying $60 million up front for an option to secure exclusive rights to Aribio Co. Ltd.’s oral phase III-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy, AR-1001. The option fee plus license agreement has potential to tally $4.7 billion for Aribio, marking the largest deal for an AD asset inked by a Korean biotech company.

A few months after winning its first regulatory clearance in China, Beone Medicines Inc.’s next-generation BCL2 inhibitor, sonrotoclax, gained the U.S. FDA’s accelerated approval for use in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) following treatment with a BTK inhibitor. The therapy, branded Beqalzi, marks the first BCL2-targeting drug for MCL in the U.S., but the company has pointed to a bigger opportunity in the potential combination with blockbuster BTK drug Brukinsa (zanubrutinib).

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. secured an exclusive license to Innovo Therapeutics Inc.’s INV-008, a novel oral 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase inhibitor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), through a potential ₩662.5 billion (US$443.6 million) deal.

Metis Techbio Co. Ltd. is seeking a potential HK$2.11 billion (US$270 million) raise through a stock sale May 13, marking the largest biotech raise on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year to date. Hangzhou, China-based Metis is an AI-based nanoparticle drug formulation and delivery-focused company. Synthetic lethality-based cancer drugmaker Impact Therapeutics Inc., of Shanghai, plans to debut on the same day with a US$117 million IPO.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Raul Rodriguez said breast cancer therapy Veppanu (vepdegestrant) could become his firm’s “largest product with the current label,” and other opportunities with the drug are lined up behind, albeit “still a bit early.”

Traws Pharma Inc. has announced plans to advance potential clinical candidates for the treatment of hantavirus infection.

Raising $279 million in an IPO and another $25 million in a concurrent private placement, Odyssey Therapeutics Inc. is advancing its lead phase II asset, OD-001, in ulcerative colitis, with plans to bring its SLC15A4 program into the clinic for lupus.

Italian family-owned Angelini Pharma SpA is making its first move into the U.S. market, acquiring rare diseases specialist Catalyst Pharma Inc. in an all-cash deal worth $4.1 billion. The acquisition gives Angelini ownership of three marketed drugs for treating epilepsy and neuromuscular diseases that had combined sales of $589 million in 2025, a 19.8% increase over 2024.