Shionogi to acquire Japan Tobacco pharma companies for $1.1B
Shionogi & Co. said it plans to acquire Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) subsidiaries Torii Pharmaceutical Co. and Akros Pharma Inc. for ¥160 billion (US$1.1 billion) to expand its global R&D business. The two companies have been negotiating since early 2024, and the deal is structured such that a tender offer will begin on June 18 with an offer price of ¥6,350 per share to buy at least 11.89% of the minority stake, JT told BioWorld.

Shionogi to acquire Japan Tobacco pharma companies for $1.1B
Shionogi & Co. said it plans to acquire Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) subsidiaries Torii Pharmaceutical Co. and Akros Pharma Inc. for ¥160 billion (US$1.1 billion) to expand its global R&D business. The two companies have been negotiating since early 2024, and the deal is structured such that a tender offer will begin on June 18 with an offer price of ¥6,350 per share to buy at least 11.89% of the minority stake, JT told BioWorld.
Gyre widening in pancreatic? Revolution offers lung data, too
Revolution Medicines Inc. followed the results offered last month with zoldonrasib (RMC-9805), a RAS G12D (ON) inhibitor, with plenty more about pipeline progress – “an embarrassment of riches,” CEO Mark Goldsmith said – during the firm’s first-quarter update. Shares of the firm (NASDAQ:RVMD) closed May 8 at $41.91, up $4.25, or 11%.
Haya doing well with a $65M series A for precision medicine
Following last fall’s $1 billion development deal with Eli Lilly and Co., precision medicine company Haya Therapeutics SA has raised $65 million in a series A. It’s all part of increased validation from big pharmas that long noncoding RNAs, such as those being developed by Haya, have a strong future.
Today's news in brief
BioWorld briefs for May 8, 2025.
US legal issues to track in pharma, biotech: Bio Korea 2025
Ongoing policy issues in the U.S., including the Inflation Reduction Act and recent proposals under President Donald Trump’s administration, have wide ranging implications for the global biopharmaceutical industry, speakers at Bio Korea 2025 said May 8, including a heightened need for all biotechs to draft regulatory strategies.
Organoids plus gene editing bring insights into pediatric metabolic disease
“I’m a pediatrician in metabolic diseases, and every day in my clinical work I’m confronted with our lack in effective therapies for our patients.” That was the sobering introduction by Sabine Fuchs in her talk at the 2025 Congress of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Amsterdam this week. The nature of metabolic diseases makes it difficult to develop treatments for them. “There are over 1,500 diseases known by now, and it is just very difficult to develop therapies for each and every individual rare disease.”
Sun shines on Leqselvi at Federal Circuit
Planting seed money and “wishing” is not enough to claim “irreparable harm” to secure a preliminary injunction or to establish the standing required to appeal a patent board decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled May 7 in two decisions involving Incyte Corp. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

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Analysis and data insight

South Korea urges US to exempt pharma, allies from tariffs
Regulatory
South Korean government and biopharmaceutical industry representatives urged American policymakers May 7 to refrain from imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, and to spare allies if pharma tariffs are deemed necessary. Both Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare on May 4 and the Korea...
Three Korea biotechs prep for May IPOs
Financings
Among three Korean biotech companies slated to sell shares on the Korea Exchange this month, Immuneoncia Therapeutics Inc. is the latest to price a ₩33.9 billion (US$24 million) Kosdaq IPO for May 19. Regenerative cell therapy maker Organoid Sciences Ltd. and antibody-drug conjugate specialist...
Biopharma funding drops 71% from 2024, but in line with prior years
Financings
Total biopharma financings for the first four months of 2025 reached $15.48 billion, a 71% decline from $53.49 billion in 2024. Biopharma companies raised $2.4 billion in April 2025, reflecting a 37% drop from March's $3.82 billion.
Navigating the Trump tariffs: Biopharma execs weigh in
Europe
First quarter 2025 results presentations were the first chance analysts have had to quiz pharma companies in public about their exposure to the threat of U.S. import tariffs and what action they are taking to mitigate the risks. BioWorld reporters have listened in to the analyst meetings and...

Financings

Nuevocor draws $45M series B for gene therapy in rare heart disease
Science
Nuevocor Pte. Ltd. has closed a $45 million series B, enabling it to move lead gene therapy NVC-001 into the clinic in the treatment of an inherited form of cardiomyopathy.

Science

AACR 2025: Induced proximity strategy, beyond degraders
Conferences
Targeted protein degradation has yet to notch its first approval. But with more than two dozen agents now in clinical trials, the strategy’s ultimate clinical validation appears to be a matter of time.

AACR 2025: Nouscom reports early but promising response in Lynch syndrome
Conferences
Off-the-shelf cancer vaccine specialist Nouscom AG announced positive final results for its lead product, Nous-209, showing there was a “highly potent” and durable immune response in carriers of Lynch syndrome, a common hereditary condition that can increase the lifetime risk of cancer by as much...
Vaccine Integrity Project launched to tackle ‘unfortunate reality’
Regulatory
Nervousness about the Trump administration’s attitude to vaccines has spurred the formation of the Vaccine Integrity Project, which has the aim of safeguarding the use of vaccines and ensuring vaccine policy “remains grounded in the best available science,” and is “free from external influence.”

Newco news

Brink’s recombinase enzymes offer new gene editing approach
Financings
Newco Brink Therapeutics SAS is poised to work on the next chapter in genome editing after raising €3.5 million (US$4 million) in seed funding to discover and develop programmable recombinase enzymes.
Aiming for autoimmunity, Merida Bio launches with $121M series A
Financings
When an autoimmune disease disrupted the life of someone close to scientist Dario Gutierrez, an idea emerged for a new company called Merida Biosciences focused on removing misdirected antibodies and their negative effects using Fc biotherapeutics.
Antag aiming to fill therapeutic gaps in obesity space
Clinical
The latest obesity contender, Antag Therapeutics A/S, has dosed the first participants in a phase I trial of a glucose-dependent insulinotrophic polypeptide (GIP) agonist it said will address key gaps in the current treatment options, not least the gastrointestinal side effects seen with GLP-1...
Hillstar launches with $67M series A to target TRBV9+ T cells
Financings
Hillstar Bio came out of stealth mode, announcing a $67 million series A financing round with investors including Droia Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, Novo Holdings A/S and Lifearc Ventures.
Augustine Therapeutics closes $85M series A for HDAC6 inhibitors
Science
Eight months after announcing the $18.5 million first tranche of its series A, Augustine Therapeutics has closed the oversubscribed round at $85 million and is now ready to begin clinical development of its novel histone deacetylase-6 (HDAC6) inhibitors.

U.S.

Theriva’s VCN-01 improves survival in phase IIb pancreatic cancer trial
Clinical
Theriva Biologics Inc.’s stroma-targeting oncolytic virus approach yielded positive findings in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, with the top-line readout of phase IIb data showing VCN-01 (zabilugene almadenorepvec) in combination with chemotherapy bested chemotherapy alone on primary...

Europe

Argenx’s Vyvgart, Camurus’ Oczyesa among 16 recommended by CHMP
Regulatory
Argenx NV is now well on the way to establishing a Vyvgart (efgartigimod alfa) franchise in severe autoimmune diseases, after getting the nod from the EMA in the treatment of progressive or relapsing chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Roche follows other pharmas, committing $50B in US investment
Financings
Roche AG has become the latest pharmaceutical company to respond to the Trump administration’s threat to impose tariffs, saying it will invest $50 billion in drug and diagnostics manufacturing in the U.S. over the next five years. That figure matches a similar commitment by its Basel,...
Cyprumed, Merck ink $493M peptide pill licensing deal
Deals and M&A
Oral peptide delivery specialist Cyprumed GmbH is about to find out if the high bioavailability of its tablet formulations seen in animal models will translate across to humans, after signing a $493 million license and option agreement with Merck & Co. Inc.

Clinical

Marea looks to a phase IIb study in cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular
With positive phase IIa cardiovascular disease results in hand, Marea Therapeutics Inc. said it is ready to move on to a phase IIb study sometime in the second quarter of 2025. MAR-001, a monoclonal antibody targeting the protein coding gene...
Actuate posts improved phase II data in pancreatic cancer
Cancer
Actuate Therapeutics Inc. said its lead candidate, elraglusib, in pancreatic cancer demonstrated a substantial improvement in median overall survival compared to data from the same phase II study released in December 2024, but it wasn’t enough to...
Aldeyra DED phase III hits but reproxalap field goal fumbled
Ocular
Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc. is making another run at U.S. FDA clearance for reproxalap in dry eye disease (DED) after nailing the primary endpoint in a phase III randomized, double-masked, vehicle-controlled dry eye chamber trial of 0.25% ophthalmic...
Immutep’s efti shows strong survival data in head and neck cancer
Cancer
Immutep Ltd. announced strong median overall survival of 17.6 months in cohort B of the TACTI-003 (Keynote-PNC-34) phase IIb trial that evaluated eftilagimod alfa in combination with Merck & Co.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) as first-line therapy in...
Associate degree: PTC’s hints of phase II HD efficacy studied
Neurology/psychiatric
PTC Therapeutics Inc. CEO Matthew Klein said the firm “achieved all we set out to [achieve] in phase II” with PTC-518 in Huntington’s disease (HD), but it wasn’t enough to excite Wall Street, as some questioned whether the level of associations...
AACR 2025: D3 Bio, Immvira present solid tumor, brain cancer data
Conferences
Shanghai-based D3 Bio (Wuxi) Co. Ltd. showed positive results for its lead candidate, next-generation KRAS G12C inhibitor, D3S-001, also known as elisrasib, in patients with KRAS G12C mutation cancers, including patients previously treated with...

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