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Asahi Kasei pays $920M for Aicuris: bolsters antiviral portfolio
Japanese conglomerate Asahi Kasei agreed an all‑cash acquisition of German antiviral specialist Aicuris for roughly €780 million (about $920 million). The purchase brings marketed product Prevymis...
Ultima launches UG200 series – automation deal with Hamilton
Ultima Genomics unveiled the UG200 sequencing family and Solaris 2.0 workflows, positioning the company for high‑throughput, lower‑cost human genome production. The UG200 line offers flexible...
Roche pegs Axelios at $150 a genome: sequencing price war heats
Roche disclosed more details on its Axelios 1 sequencing platform at AGBT, including a claimed consumable cost equating to $150 per 30X human genome in duplex mode. Roche provided workflow and...
Illumina launches TruPath genome set – PacBio face‑off
Illumina introduced TruPath long‑read genome capabilities at the AGBT meeting, positioning the product as a competitor to PacBio’s native long reads and to other high‑throughput platforms in...
Senate hearing: FDA slammed over rare disease reviews
A Senate Aging Committee hearing and related advocacy sessions put the FDA’s rare‑disease review process under scrutiny, with patient groups and clinicians pressing for consistency and clearer...
Lilly’s oral GLP‑1 outperforms Novo in head‑to‑head trials – side‑effect tradeoffs
Eli Lilly reported head‑to‑head clinical trial results showing its oral GLP‑1 candidate achieved larger reductions in blood glucose and body weight versus Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide...
Tumor‑informed ctDNA flags anal cancer recurrence: Nature Communications
Researchers published a tumor‑informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay that predicted recurrence and survival outcomes in anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC). The Nature Communications study...
Lex starts commercialization of Velo: FDA‑cleared 10‑minute POC qPCR
Lex Diagnostics commenced commercialization of Velo, a point‑of‑care molecular diagnostic platform cleared by the FDA (510(k)) with a CLIA waiver for a flu/COVID assay. The Velo delivers...
Ultima Genomics Launches UG200 Series: Solaris 2.0 Promises Faster, Cheaper Sequencing
Ultima Genomics unveiled its UG200 instrument family and Solaris 2.0 workflows, announcing higher throughput, reduced footprint and a 1‑day library‑to‑data turnaround aimed at population‑scale...
SPT Labtech, Illumina Partner: Automated MiSeq i100 Prep for Decentralized Genomics
SPT Labtech announced a strategic collaboration with Illumina to develop an automated sample‑preparation platform for the MiSeq i100 benchtop sequencer, aiming to bring standardized NGS workflows...
Lex Diagnostics Commercializes Velo: FDA‑Cleared 10‑Minute qPCR Hits Market
Lex Diagnostics has started commercialization of Velo, an FDA 510(k)‑cleared and CLIA‑waived cartridge‑based qPCR system that yields sample‑to‑answer results in roughly 10 minutes for flu and...
Novo Nordisk Stakes up to $2.1B on Vivtex Tech for Oral Biologics
Novo Nordisk entered a strategic collaboration with Vivtex to develop oral formulations of peptide and protein therapeutics, a deal that could total up to $2.1 billion including milestones and...
GSK Buys 35Pharma for $950M — Adds HS‑235 Pulmonary Hypertension Asset
GSK agreed to acquire Canadian biotech 35Pharma for $950 million in cash, obtaining HS‑235, a protein‑based candidate targeting the activin receptor signaling pathway for pulmonary arterial...
Astellas and Vir Ink Partnership on Masked PSMA T‑Cell Engager — Deal Tops $1.7B
Astellas and Vir Biotechnology struck a global co‑development and co‑commercialization deal for VIR‑5500, a PRO‑XTEN masked T‑cell engager targeting PSMA in prostate cancer. The agreement could...
FDA Unveils Ultra‑Rare Therapy Framework — Makary Defends Recent Rare‑Drug Rejections
The FDA published a draft framework to expedite therapies tailored to ultra‑rare diseases, outlining a pathway for individualized genome‑editing and RNA‑based treatments when randomized trials are...
Laser Ablation Plus Pembrolizumab Shows Promise in Recurrent High‑Grade Astrocytoma
A Phase 1/randomized Phase 2b study published in Nature Communications reported that combining laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) with adjuvant pembrolizumab produced encouraging responses...
Beam Advances BEAM‑304 Base Editing Program for PKU — IND Planned in 2026
Beam Therapeutics announced BEAM‑304, a liver‑targeted base‑editing program to correct pathogenic PAH mutations that cause phenylketonuria (PKU). The company plans to file an IND in 2026 and to...
Protagonist Opts for $400M Cash Over Profit‑Share with Takeda on Rusfertide
Protagonist Therapeutics confirmed it will opt out of a profit‑sharing agreement with Takeda for its hematology asset rusfertide and instead take a one‑time $400 million cash payment. The decision...
Vir, Astellas ink up-to-$1.7B PSMA T‑cell engager pact: Co‑develop and co‑commercialize VIR‑5500
Vir Biotechnology and Astellas agreed to co-develop and co-commercialize VIR-5500, a PRO-XTEN masked T-cell engager targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). The upfront and near-term...
GSK pays $950M for 35Pharma — buys a pulmonary‑hypertension challenger
GSK agreed to acquire 35Pharma for $950 million in cash to gain HS‑235, a protein therapeutic positioned as a 'best‑in‑class' competitor for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The deal...