Axiom Biosciences, rebranded from Cytonus Therapeutics Inc. in June 2026, plans to be one of the first U.S. biotechs to IPO on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The San Diego-based company is preparing audits as the first step to a potential IPO in 2027.
Rinascera Therapeutics Inc. has secured enough initial funding to acquire two drugs for rare genetic skin diseases, despite stalled development with their previous owners. The company, whose name comes from the Latin root renasci – to be born again, was incubated by Olive Tree Capital, which led the seed round with participation from Civilization Ventures and Toba Capital.
Nearly 60% of venture capital financing rounds in the first half (H1) of 2026 were over $100 million, with the volume of those deals topping $7.5 billion, up 23% from the year-ago semester and just slightly below H1 2024, which saw a total of $7.84 billion in large financings.
At the BIO International Convention, nonprofit and for-profit companies discussed ways to fund orphan drug development, especially for ultra-rare diseases where development costs can be challenging. One of the simplest ways to keep costs down is to skip the discovery phase and use repurposed drugs or rescue shelved therapeutic assets as the Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator has done. The Cambridge, Mass.-based accelerator was founded in 2024 to rescue shelled therapeutic assets for ultrarare diseases.
The eighth version of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) is up for renewal next year, but the bulk of the negotiations between the drug development industry and the U.S. FDA is largely complete. At the BIO International Convention, representatives from the industry and trade organization provided an overview of what was agreed upon during the 127 negotiating sessions that were needed to arrive at the commitment letter, which will be sent to Congress later in 2026.
Ethyreal Bio Inc. has come out of stealth mode in order to disclose preclinical data for ETHY-001, its monoclonal antibody targeting thyroid stimulating hormone receptor, at the Endocrine Society’s 2026 annual meeting on June 15.
GLP-1 receptor agonists remained center stage at the 2026 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and Astrazeneca plc, joining the leaders, Eli Lilly and Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S, in presenting data for their respective GLP-1 drugs.
Building on its partnerships with Gilead Sciences Inc., Sanofi SA and Pfizer Inc., Nurix Therapeutics Inc. brought on Roche Holding AG to help develop bexobrutideg, an oral degrader of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). “I really can’t think of a better partner to maximize the opportunity for bexobrutideg to a wide range of patients,” Jason Kantor, Nurix’s chief business officer, told investors on a conference call, later pointing out that Roche has multiple drugs targeting B cells.
Minneapolis-based Celcuity Inc. was like the Rolling Stones at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The company reported positive phase III data for its pan-PI3K/mTORC1/2 inhibitor gedatolisib, but Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC) couldn’t get any satisfaction from investors who sent shares down 25.7%, or $31.54, to $91.42 on June 2, 2026.
At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, multiple companies presented data for their drugs targeting WEE1, a checkpoint for the transition from G2 into mitosis. Aprea Therapeutics Inc. presented phase 1 data for its WEE1 inhibitor APR-1051 in patients with advanced solid tumors showing two patients with endometrial cancers achieved partial responses in the dose-escalation study. Likewise, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc. had tantalizing early results from a phase Ib study showing azenosertib plus paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer produced an overall response rate of 39% with a median progression-free survival of 7.3 months.
