Shortly after Amgen Inc. walked away from its partnership with Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd., the Tokyo-based company said it is discontinuing all ongoing clinical trials for rocatinlimab due to safety concerns.
Although Aisa Pharma Inc’s cilnidipine (AISA-021) failed to meet the primary endpoint, multiple secondary endpoints showed statistically significant improvement in treating sclerosis-associated Raynaud's phenomenon, potentially positioning the drug for a phase III program in a disease with no approved oral therapies globally.
Rapport Therapeutics Inc. added $20 million to its cash runway for its lead phase III oral seizure drug, RAP-219, through a potential $328 million license deal signed with Tenacia Biotechnology Co. Ltd.
U.S. scrutiny of China’s trade practices, especially in the biotech sector, continues to escalate as the U.S. International Trade Commission launches two factfinding investigations Congress mandated in the fiscal 2026 appropriations.
In an all-cash transaction valued at €780 million (US$920 million), Asahi Kasei Corp. offered to buy Aicuris Anti-infective Cures AG, expanding its infectious disease portfolio with a marketed cytomegalovirus product and a herpes treatment nearing an NDA.
Astellas Pharma Inc. and Vir Biotechnology Inc. have signed a global co-development pact to advance VIR-5500, Vir’s PRO-XTEN dual-masked CD3 T-cell engager targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen for treating prostate cancer. Under the deal terms, San Francisco-based Vir will receive $335 million in up-front and near-term payments, including $240 million in cash, $75 million in equity investment and a $20 million near-term milestone. Vir is also eligible to receive up to $1.37 billion in development, regulatory and sales-based milestones plus royalties on ex-U.S. sales.
Gilead Sciences is stepping deeper into synthetic lethality, licensing a clinic-ready MAT2A (methionine adenosyltransferase 2a) inhibitor from Suzhou, China-based Genhouse Bio Co. Ltd. in a deal worth up to $1.53 billion.
CSL Ltd. is out-licensing its interleukin-6 (IL-6) monoclonal antibody, clazakizumab, to Eli Lilly and Co. in a deal that brings CSL $100 million in up-front fees. A CSL spokesperson told BioWorld the deal includes undisclosed milestone payments and sales-based royalties. CSL will retain rights to develop and commercialize clazakizumab for prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with end-stage kidney disease, while Lilly will explore the MAb in all other indications.
The U.S. FDA accepted, with priority review, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s NDA submission for oveporexton (TAK-681), bringing the oral orexin receptor 2 agonist closer to clearance in narcolepsy type 1.
Continuing to build on the successful launch of Rezdiffra (resmetirom), Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc. is adding six preclinical-stage siRNA therapies to its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) pipeline in a deal with Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary, Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB, that could be worth $4.4 billion if all milestones are achieved.
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