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Cassidy Bio raises $8M seed to AI-design gene editors
Tel Aviv startup Cassidy Bio closed an $8 million seed round led by Ahren Innovation Capital to develop an AI platform that predicts optimal combinations of guide RNAs, editing enzymes and...
Profluent raises $106M to scale AI-driven protein design
Profluent closed a $106 million financing led by Altimeter Capital and Bezos Expeditions to advance large-scale AI models for protein design across therapeutics, agriculture and biomanufacturing....
Tessera to begin first human trial with in vivo gene writing
Tessera Therapeutics confirmed it will start its first-in-human study of an in vivo gene writing platform next month, testing the approach in adults with a rare genetic disease. The company said...
Liu lab’s PERT prime-editing advance: one agent for many nonsense mutations
Researchers in David Liu’s laboratory reported a prime-editing strategy called PERT (prime editing–installed suppressor tRNAs) that converts an endogenous tRNA into a suppressor RNA to read...
Abbott to acquire Exact Sciences: $23 billion bet on cancer diagnostics
Abbott announced an agreement to acquire Exact Sciences for an enterprise value of roughly $23 billion, paying $105 per share in cash and folding Exact into Abbott’s diagnostics business. The...
GSK taps Flagship platforms: Proteomics and genomics pacts
GSK signed feasibility agreements with two Flagship Pioneering platform companies—ProFound Therapeutics and Quotient Therapeutics—to mine proteomic and somatic genomic datasets for drug targets in...
Tessera to start first human gene-writing trial next month
Tessera Therapeutics confirmed it will initiate its first-in-human trial next month to test its in vivo gene-writing platform in adults with a rare genetic disease. The move transitions Tessera...
Prime editing advances: single-agent and tRNA-enhanced approaches
Two academic teams published complementary advances aimed at broadening prime editing’s therapeutic reach. David Liu’s Broad Institute group reported a strategy (PERT) that uses prime editing to...
Thermo Fisher wins FDA nod for NGS companion test tied to Bayer lung drug
Thermo Fisher received FDA approval for a next-generation sequencing–based companion diagnostic that identifies patients eligible for Bayer’s newly approved HER2-directed lung cancer therapy. The...
Arrowhead wins FDA approval: RNAi reaches commercial stage
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals secured FDA approval for its RNA interference therapy Redemplo (plozasiran) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome, marking the company’s transition into a...
J&J buys Halda for $3.05B: precision oncology expansion
Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire Halda Therapeutics for $3.05 billion in cash to augment its oncology pipeline with Halda’s precision oncology candidates, led by clinical-stage HLD-0915 for...
Ex-Grail founders pitch cfDNA methylation test for liver disease
Hepta, founded by veterans of methylation-based liquid biopsy work, released proof-of-concept data indicating circulating cell-free DNA methylation signatures reflect liver disease biology and...
Profluent raises $106M: AI protein design scales toward therapeutics
Profluent closed a $106 million funding round led by Altimeter Capital and Bezos Expeditions to expand its large-scale AI models for protein design across therapeutics, agriculture and...
FDA to allow one post-meeting email clarification: small regulatory change, material impact
The FDA updated its meeting practices to permit companies to send a single follow-up email to clarify one question after official meetings. The agency said the measure aims to reduce ambiguity and...
Abbott to buy Exact Sciences: $21B deal reshapes cancer‑testing market
Abbott moved to acquire Exact Sciences in a roughly $21 billion cash deal that would fold Cologuard and emerging blood‑based screening assets into Abbott’s diagnostics footprint....
Novartis pays up for Avidity – doubles down on neuromuscular RNA bets
Novartis closed on a large acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, paying a multibillion‑dollar premium to secure Avidity’s antibody‑oligonucleotide conjugates and late‑stage pipeline. Management...
Bayer’s HER2 lung pill wins FDA: rapid approval to meet recent competitor
The FDA granted accelerated approval to Bayer’s oral HER2‑targeted therapy for advanced non‑small cell lung cancer with specific HER2 mutations, moving to preserve competitiveness after a recent...
Arrowhead’s RNAi drug wins FDA — price war looms with Ionis
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals secured FDA approval for plozasiran (Redemplo) to treat familial chylomicronemia syndrome, marking the RNAi company’s transition to commercial stage and setting up direct...
Prime editing variant: one‑agent, many diseases – suppressor tRNAs advance
Researchers at the Broad Institute published a prime‑editing strategy that converts endogenous tRNAs into suppressor RNAs (PERT), enabling a single editing agent to rescue premature termination...
Profluent raises $106M: AI protein design hits commercial stride
Profluent closed a $106 million financing led by Altimeter Capital and Bezos Expeditions to scale large‑model protein design for therapeutics, enzymes and biomanufacturing. The company said its...