Get the Daily Brief
Latest Biotech News
Lilly bets on brain shuttle: $2.6B ABL Bio pact advances CNS delivery
Eli Lilly signed a license and research agreement with ABL Bio to develop therapeutics using ABL’s Grabody‑B blood‑brain barrier (BBB)‑penetrating platform. The deal carries up to $2.6 billion in...
Pfizer closes Metsera buy — up to $10B deal ends bidding war
Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity biotech Metsera in a deal worth as much as $10 billion, concluding a heated bidding contest that briefly involved Novo Nordisk. The transaction secures...
Day One buys Mersana — Emi‑Le ADC central to the deal
Day One Biopharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Mersana Therapeutics in a deal that pays $25 per share upfront and up to additional contingent payments tied to Emi‑Le (emiltatug ledadotin), Mersana’s...
Korro pivots after failed RNA‑editing readout — mass layoffs follow
Korro Bio announced disappointing early clinical performance of its RNA‑editing candidate for alpha‑1 antitrypsin deficiency and cut roughly one‑third of its workforce while pivoting delivery...
FDA unveils plausible‑mechanism pathway — roadmap for bespoke gene edits
Senior FDA officials outlined a new regulatory approach—the so‑called plausible‑mechanism pathway—to accelerate approvals for deeply personalized gene‑editing therapies when randomized trials are...
Scientists probe neural‑organoid ethics — governance lags behind science
Neuroscience and bioethics experts convened to debate the ethical and societal implications of rapidly advancing human neural organoid and assembloid research. Participants, including Sergiu Pasca...
Neuro‑immunology and degrader startups raise nine‑figure rounds — Nilo and Gate scale
Two early‑stage biotechs closed sizable financings to advance novel modalities: Nilo Therapeutics launched with $101 million to translate neuro‑immune circuit biology into therapeutics that...
Komzifti cleared: Kura, Kyowa win FDA nod for NPM1‑mutant AML
The FDA approved ziftomenib (Komzifti), Kura Oncology and Kyowa Kirin’s oral menin inhibitor, for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring NPM1 mutations. The decision was...
Pfizer seals Metsera takeover: Up to $10B obesity deal completes
Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity biotech Metsera, finalizing a deal valued at up to $10 billion and ending a high‑stakes bidding contest with Novo Nordisk. The transaction transfers...
Pazdur named CDER head — FDA lays out plausible‑mechanism path for bespoke edits
The FDA appointed longtime oncology regulator Richard Pazdur to lead its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) while senior officials publicly sketched a new regulatory approach to...
Multi‑omics map xenograft rejection: Antibodies and T cells drive pig‑to‑human kidney response
Two independent multi‑omic reports tracked immune events after a gene‑edited pig kidney was transplanted into a brain‑dead human recipient and maintained for 61 days. Researchers performed dense...
GanLum meets Phase 3 goal: Novartis positions new malaria therapy against resistance
Novartis reported Phase 3 data showing its experimental antimalarial GanLum (ganaplacide + lumefantrine) met the primary endpoint of noninferiority versus standard care across 1,688 patients in...
Day One buys Mersana: Emi‑Le ADC anchors back‑ended takeover
Day One Biopharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Mersana Therapeutics in a deal structured with a modest upfront and significant milestone payments tied to clinical progress for Emi‑Le (emiltatug...
Allen Institute launches Brain Knowledge Platform: 34M brain‑cell datasets, AI models
The Allen Institute released the Brain Knowledge Platform (BKP), an open resource that standardizes and integrates more than 34 million brain‑cell datasets across species and modalities and pairs...
Nine‑figure rounds back neuro‑immune and degrader bets: Nilo $101M, Gate $65M
Two financings signaled investor appetite for biologically novel approaches to immune and brain diseases. Nilo Therapeutics launched with $101 million in Series A funding to develop therapies that...
Clinical lab tools roll out: OGT’s ultra‑sensitive MRD panel and automated single‑cell workflows
OGT launched a SureSeq Myeloid MRD Plus NGS panel engineered to detect measurable residual disease (MRD) in AML down to allele fractions as low as 0.01%, coupled with Interpret bioinformatics for...
AMT‑130 slows Huntington's: Uniqure reports 75% disease‑slowing at three years
Uniqure reported three‑year follow‑up from its AMT‑130 program in Huntington’s disease showing a 75% slowing of progression on the cUHDRS (composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale)...
Novartis’ GanLum clears phase 3 — New tool vs resistant malaria
Novartis reported Phase 3 results showing its ganaplacide‑lumefantrine combination (GanLum) met the trial’s primary endpoint and achieved cure rates that meet World Health Organization thresholds....
FDA unveils plausible‑mechanism route for bespoke gene edits
Top FDA officials outlined a new regulatory approach—often called the “plausible mechanism” pathway—intended to accelerate approvals for highly individualized gene‑editing therapies. In a...
Pig kidney xenograft rejection reversed — Multi‑omics maps immune drivers
A team published in Nature traced immune responses over 61 days after transplanting a genetically engineered pig kidney into a brain‑dead human decedent and identified the cellular drivers of...