Company News

A small peptide drug in development at Oculis Holding AG of Switzerland has received regulatory designations from agencies in both Europe and the US for its promise as a treatment for optic neuritis, a disease that can seriously impair vision. Called privosegtor, the candidate drug activates pathways in the brain in order to promote the survival of neurons after an inflammatory attack. Optic neuritis can be caused by autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, or viral infections such as mumps, measles or the flu, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. 

Kailera Therapeutics Inc, a venture capital-backed enterprise with obesity assets in-licensed from China, has raised $625 million from an initial public offering on Nasdaq, one of the largest biotech IPOs in recent years. The funds will be used to advance the company’s lead product ribupatide, currently in global Phase 3 trials, as well as three other candidate obesity treatments that cover several mechanisms of action and methods of delivery.

Tubulis GmbH, a 2019 German university spin-out, is to be acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc for up to $5 billion – one of the larger biopharma transactions in Europe this year. Announced on 7 April, the deal involves an upfront payment of $3.15 billion and potential milestones of $1.85 billion for ownership of an early clinical-stage portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for cancer. As part of the agreement, Tubulis’ scientists and other staff will remain at their current location in Munich which will serve as a hub for ADC innovation for Gilead as a whole.

Eli Lilly and Company signalled its intention to broaden its neuroscience portfolio on 31 March with the planned acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals Plc, a Nasdaq-listed developer of treatments for sleep-wake disorders. Centessa is developing a pipeline of orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists. The lead product, cleminorexton, is in Phase 2a clinical studies for the treatment of two types of narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, all chronic neurological disorders affecting sleep.

The Belgian biotech Galapagos NV has signed a binding agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc giving it rights to a prospective T cell therapy programme targeting autoimmune diseases. Concluded on 31 March, the deal centres on an early clinical-stage bispecific antibody designed to link a patient’s T cells to the B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) on plasma cells. In this way, it would eliminate pathogenic B cells and plasma cells in order to reduce inflammation and treat autoimmune diseases.

Abivax SA reported cash and cash equivalents of €530.4 million on 31 December 2025 giving the France-based biotech company sufficient funds to finance its operating expenses into the fourth quarter of 2027. This follows a successful public share offering in July that raised a net $700.3 million for the company on the back of unexpectedly robust results for two Phase 3 trials of its lead product obefazimod. Obefazimod is being studied in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, both subsets of inflammatory bowel disease.

Novartis is to expand its role in the treatment of allergies with the acquisition of a US company specialising in therapies for diseases driven by immunoglobulin E (IgE). The target company, Excellergy Inc, was only launched in October 2025, but with Red Tree Venture Capital as a seed investor and scientists from Stanford University, US, and the University of Bern, Switzerland, working in the background, it has produced a monoclonal antibody that is already in Phase 1.

 Immutrin Ltd has raised £65 million to advance its lead antibody therapy to treat ATTR cardiomyopathy, a serious form of amyloidosis. The oversubscribed Series A financing was led by new investor Frazier Life Sciences with participation from F-Prime, Qiming Venture Partners, SR One and the biotech company’s founding investors Cambridge Innovation Capital and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, UK. Amyloidosis is caused by misfolded proteins that aggregate into amyloid fibrils and accumulate in tissues and organs, leading to irreversible organ damage. 

Merck & Co Inc is to expand its oncology portfolio with the acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc of Foster City, California, US. Announced on 25 March, the deal will give Merck an early-clinical stage small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, TERN-701, for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). The target is an abnormal fusion gene which drives the growth of cancer cells in both CML and some types of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The Belgian biotech Galapagos NV has announced a new strategy focused on the development of potential chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. If executed, the strategy would involve recalibrating a long-term relationship with Gilead Sciences Inc with whom it has been working since 2015. In separate statements on 23 March, Gilead announced the acquisition of the privately-held US biotech company Ouro Medicines Inc, and Galapagos said it is in discussions with Gilead to share the cost of developing the target company’s lead asset.