Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. has taken up its option on U.S. rights to AB2 Bio Ltd.’s interleukin-18 neutralizing drug, tadekinig alfa, triggering a payment of $30 million and opening the way to a further $650 million in development and commercialization milestones for the Swiss biotech. The rights relate to the use of tadekinig in the treatment of primary pediatric IL-18-driven hyperinflammation, an ultra-rare inherited disorder that if left untreated can lead to multi-organ failure and death.

Bad news from the Novo Nordisk A/S phase III trial called Zeus with IL-6 inhibitor ziltivekimab struck a blow to some drug developers’ theory about heart disease – and to their stocks. An update on the Zeus trial weighing the safety and efficacy of monoclonal antibody ziltivekimab nicked shares of Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novo (NYSE:NVO), which closed July 31 at $47.08, down $4.54.

Scientists in the U.K. have used genome mining to identify bacterial species capable of producing novel polyene antifungal compounds that are both more effective and have a more benign side effect profile than approved polyenes such as amphotericin and nystatin.