ADC Therapeutics SA blamed patients’ advanced age on the death imbalance in the phase III Lotis-5 confirmatory trial testing Zynlonta (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) in combination with rituximab to treat relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (r/r DLBCL). Whatever the reason, Wall Street wasn’t pleased and shares (NYSE:ADCT) closed June 4 at $1.32, down 57%, or $1.77.

Nearly a year after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy announced the U.S. was cutting off funding for Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department is reengaging with the organization in light of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in central Africa. In testifying before a June 2 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio said the State Department made the decision to reengage a few weeks earlier with Gavi. He provided no detail of what that engagement looks like.

Mammogen Inc. raised $30 million in equity financing in a series A round to support the clinical advancement and commercialization of its RNA-powered molecular diagnostics platform. The company’s lead product is Gentru-breast, a blood-based assay designed to detect molecular signatures associated with breast cancer from a simple blood draw.

Cytomx Therapeutics Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which inked a bispecifics-focused collaboration worth up to $2 billion in 2022, agreed to broaden their efforts in an expanded deal that provides Cytomx with additional funding up front as it advances its promising colorectal cancer candidate, varsetatug masetecan (Varseta-M), and fills the gap left by the recently terminated agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc.

Once again, Eli Lilly and Co. has signed a billion-dollar deal, this time with Boston-based Ascidian Therapeutics Inc., a company that is barely four years old and one that is focused on treating human diseases by rewriting RNA. “Our technology, we call it RNA exon editing,” said Ascidian Chief Scientific Officer Robert Bell. “It edits RNA, not DNA … but it does so at the kilobase scale.”

D&D Pharmatech Inc. announced May 27 positive top-line tissue biopsy results of zabopegdutide (DD-01) from a 48-week phase II study of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), pushing company shares up 30% on the day.

On the heels of the multibillion-dollar licensing deal between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to add biotechnology as a prohibited technology under the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act of 2025.

China’s National Medical Products Administration has issued final implementation measures for drug trial data protection that mark a significant step toward aligning China’s pharmaceutical intellectual property framework with global standards.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. secured a $1.26 billion deal with Eli Lilly and Co. to out-license ex-Korea rights to sonefpeglutide (HM-15912), a Lapscovery-based glucagon-like peptide-2 analog in development for multiple indications, including an ongoing phase II study of short bowel syndrome. It was one of two billion-dollar Asian company deals signed by Lilly on June 1, with the second transaction involving Haisco Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., of Beijing.

Pfizer Inc. is paying Innovent Biologics Co. Ltd. $650 million up front and up to $9.85 billion in milestones, plus royalties, to collaborate across 12 early stage and de novo antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and multispecific antibodies for oncology.