Get the Daily Brief

All action, no filler. BioBriefs delivers the industry’s 10 must-know updates, every morning.

Latest Biotech News

Merck and Mayo Clinic link data and AI for drug discovery

February 19, 2026

Merck and Mayo Clinic announced a research and development collaboration to combine Mayo Clinic’s clinical and genomic datasets with Merck’s AI‑enabled virtual cell technologies to accelerate...

J&J pauses enrollment in mid‑stage Alzheimer’s trial with AC Immune

February 19, 2026

Johnson & Johnson halted patient recruitment in a mid‑stage trial of an Alzheimer’s candidate being developed with partner AC Immune. The pause prompted an approximately 10% decline in AC Immune’s...

Gene‑editing milestones: in vivo base editing reverses behavior — LNPs insert full gene into airway cells

February 19, 2026

Two independent advances sharpen the therapeutic promise of genetic medicines. A dual AAV split‑base‑editor system (TeABE) achieved targeted in‑vivo editing of Chd3 in mouse brain, reversing...

Protein AI and manufacturing: 1.4M validated models meet an LLM production fix

February 19, 2026

Researchers released PSBench, the largest curated collection of annotated protein structure models—1.4 million entries—with independent quality assessments to improve AI protein‑structure...

Regulatory showdown — FDA warns US losing ground while China speeds trial reviews

February 19, 2026

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary warned U.S. policymakers and industry that the country is losing competitiveness in early‑stage drug development to China, citing bottlenecks in hospital contracting,...

FDA reverses course: Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine accepted for review

February 19, 2026

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reversed a recent refusal-to-file and agreed to review Moderna’s mRNA seasonal influenza vaccine mRNA-1010, assigning a PDUFA target date of Aug. 5, 2026. The...

Psilocybin scores again — Compass nears FDA filing after second Phase III win

February 19, 2026

Compass Pathways reported positive results from a second pivotal Phase III trial of its synthetic psilocybin formulation COMP360 in treatment‑resistant depression, reinforcing earlier data and...

Novartis bets on macrocycles: Big-dollar pact to hunt cardiovascular targets

February 19, 2026

Novartis signed a discovery and licensing agreement with Unnatural Products (UNP) to deploy UNP’s AI-guided macrocyclic peptide platform against cardiovascular disease targets. Financial terms...

Merck and Mayo Clinic link up: AI and clinical genomics to fuel discovery

February 19, 2026

Merck announced a research collaboration with the Mayo Clinic to integrate Mayo Clinic Platform clinical and genomic datasets with Merck’s AI-enabled virtual cell technologies. The initial focus...

Alzheimer’s entrant raises $175M: Korsana emerges with anti‑amyloid antibody program

February 19, 2026

Korsana Therapeutics launched with $175 million in venture backing from investors including Wellington, Sanofi Ventures and a J.P. Morgan affiliate to advance KRSA‑028, an anti‑amyloid antibody...

J&J commits $1B: New U.S. cell‑therapy manufacturing site to scale production

February 19, 2026

Johnson & Johnson announced a more than $1 billion investment to build a cell‑therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania as part of a broader push to expand its cell therapy capabilities. The...

PSBench released: 1.4M checked protein models to sharpen AI predictions

February 19, 2026

University of Missouri researchers published PSBench, a curated database of 1.4 million protein structure models annotated and quality‑checked by independent experts. The resource is intended to...

Lilly buys rights: $100M upfront deal for CSL’s IL‑6 antibody to broaden immunology slate

February 19, 2026

Eli Lilly agreed to pay $100 million upfront to license rights from CSL for clazakizumab, an anti‑IL‑6 monoclonal antibody, expanding Lilly’s inflammation and immunology portfolio. CSL retains...

Danaher to buy Masimo — $9.9B deal reshapes diagnostics landscape

February 19, 2026

Danaher Corp. agreed to acquire Masimo Corp. for $9.9 billion in cash, paying $180 per share, a roughly 38% premium to Masimo’s last close. The transaction bolsters Danaher’s diagnostics and...

Gilead expands synthetic‑lethality push: $1.5B‑plus deal for Genhouse MAT2A inhibitor

February 19, 2026

Gilead Sciences entered a licensing agreement with Genhouse Bio to acquire rights to a clinical‑ready MAT2A inhibitor designed to exploit synthetic lethality in MTAP‑deleted tumors. The deal is...

FDA U-turn — Moderna’s mRNA flu shot accepted for review

February 19, 2026

The FDA reversed a recent refusal and agreed to review Moderna’s BLA for its seasonal mRNA influenza vaccine, setting a PDUFA target of Aug. 5, 2026. The decision follows a Type A meeting in which...

Psilocybin scores: Compass posts second Phase III win, eyes U.S. filing

February 19, 2026

Compass Pathways disclosed positive results from a second Phase III study of its synthetic psilocybin candidate COMP360 in treatment‑resistant depression, reporting statistically significant...

Novartis bets on macrocycles: $1.8B Unnatural Products pact

February 19, 2026

Novartis signed a research and licensing agreement with Unnatural Products (UNP) to access UNP’s AI‑guided macrocyclic peptide discovery platform in a collaboration that could generate up to...

Lilly jumps on IL‑6: $100M deal for CSL antibody rights

February 19, 2026

Eli Lilly agreed to license rights from CSL Limited for clazakizumab, an IL‑6‑targeting monoclonal antibody, paying an initial $100 million with additional clinical, regulatory and commercial...

Korsana emerges with $175M to develop anti‑amyloid antibody

February 19, 2026

Korsana Therapeutics launched with $175 million in venture backing to advance an anti‑amyloid antibody program (KRSA‑028) spun out of Paragon Therapeutics. Investors include Wellington, Sanofi...