Eli Lilly and Co.’s chief scientific officer, Daniel Skovronsky, called peresolimab, the PD-1 agonist previously in the works by the firm for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a “really interesting mechanism” – but not interesting enough.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is aiming to capitalize on the early August 2022 buyout of privately held U.K. biotech Mirobio Ltd. with the advancement of PD-1 agonist GS-0151 into phase Ib trials for rheumatoid arthritis, a decision that Leerink analyst David Risinger hailed as positive for others at work with the intriguing mechanism. Paying $405 million for Oxford-based Mirobio, Gilead took ownership of the firm’s checkpoint agonists to treat autoimmune diseases.