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Braveheart raises $185M — backs HCM challenger from Hengrui
Braveheart Bio closed a $185 million financing to run registration‑enabling studies for a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) small‑molecule licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui. Investors include...
Neok Bio debuts with $75M — bispecific ADCs head to IND
Neok Bio launched with a $75 million Series A, backed principally by ABL Bio, to advance two bispecific antibody‑drug conjugates (ADCs) toward IND filings. The Palo Alto startup claims its...
Hepta raises $6.7M to push cfDNA epigenetic test for liver disease
Hepta Bio closed a $6.7 million seed round led by Felicis Ventures and Illumina Ventures to develop an AI‑driven liquid biopsy that analyzes differential methylation in cell‑free DNA for chronic...
FDA rejects Biohaven’s ataxia bid — company to cut R&D
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a complete response letter rejecting Biohaven’s new drug application for troriluzole to treat spinocerebellar ataxia, prompting immediate corporate...
FDA approves UCB’s Kygevvi — first therapy for TK2 deficiency
The FDA approved UCB’s KYGEVVI (doxecitine and doxribtimine) as the first therapy for thymidine kinase 2 deficiency (TK2d), an ultra‑rare, often fatal mitochondrial disease. Approval relied on a...
Metsera bidding war escalates — regulators and rivals push back
Acquisition talks for obesity biotech Metsera have intensified into a high‑stakes bidding war between Novo Nordisk and Pfizer. Novo raised a proposal valuing Metsera at up to $10 billion and...
Sarepta’s Duchenne confirmatory trial misses endpoint — debate erupts
A long‑awaited confirmatory trial for Sarepta’s exon‑skipping therapies failed to meet its primary endpoint. The readout affected Vyondys 53 and Amondys 45 and sent Sarepta shares tumbling;...
AI designs atom‑accurate antibodies — Baker lab validates approach
Researchers led by David Baker refined RFdiffusion to generate de novo, full‑length antibody sequences that bind specified epitopes with atomic precision; cryo‑EM structures confirmed several...
Hepta Bio raises $6.7M to apply cfDNA epigenetics to chronic disease
Hepta Bio closed a $6.7 million seed round led by Felicis Ventures and Illumina Ventures to commercialize an AI‑driven epigenetic analysis of cell‑free DNA for chronic disease detection. The...
Ginkgo wins BARDA award to scale low‑cost mAb manufacturing
Ginkgo Bioworks secured a project agreement through BARDA’s BioMaP Consortium valued up to $22.2 million to develop cost‑reducing, scalable monoclonal antibody manufacturing for filovirus...
Qiagen buys Parse to add scalable single‑cell capabilities
Qiagen agreed to acquire Parse Biosciences for $225 million in cash plus up to $55 million in milestones, accelerating Qiagen’s entrance into high‑throughput, instrument‑free single‑cell genomics....
Non‑surgical cell‑electronics brain implants modulate targets in mice
MIT researchers published a Nature Biotechnology paper describing microscopic, wireless bioelectronic devices fused with immune cells that autonomously home to inflamed brain regions after...
Braveheart nets $185M to advance Hengrui‑licensed heart drug
Braveheart Bio closed a $185 million financing led by top life‑science investors to fund registration‑enabling studies of a small‑molecule candidate licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui for hypertrophic...
Metsera melee: Novo bids $10B while Pfizer sues
Novo Nordisk raised its offer for obesity biotech Metsera to as much as $10 billion, and the company’s board has flagged Novo’s proposal as a superior transaction. Simultaneously, Pfizer filed...
Blackstone banks Merck’s ADC push — $700M risk deal
Blackstone Life Sciences agreed to provide roughly $700 million to underwrite Merck’s development of a Trop2-targeting antibody‑drug conjugate, shifting a large portion of clinical and commercial...
FDA clears UCB’s Kygevvi — first therapy for TK2 deficiency
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved UCB’s Kygevvi for thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) deficiency in adults and children with symptom onset by age 12, marking the first approved therapy for...
Sarepta setback — Duchenne confirmatory trial fails; company to press FDA
A long‑ awaited confirmatory trial for Sarepta’s exon‑skipping therapies in Duchenne muscular dystrophy failed to meet its primary endpoint, the company announced, dealing a significant regulatory...
FDA rebuffs Biohaven’s RWE submission — troriluzole hit with CRL
The FDA issued a complete response letter rejecting Biohaven’s application for troriluzole in spinocerebellar ataxia after the company relied heavily on real‑world evidence (RWE) and an external...
Braveheart raises $185M to challenge HCM market — Biogen chair on board
Braveheart Bio closed a $185 million Series A to launch global registration‑enabling trials for a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) candidate licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui. The funding round...
Azalea raises $82M — Doudna spinoff targets single‑shot in vivo CAR‑T
A startup spun out of Jennifer Doudna’s lab has closed an $82 million financing to develop in vivo CAR‑T medicines that aim to reprogram patients’ immune cells inside the body with a single...