Servier Signs €1bn-Plus AI Pact with Iktos
Servier has inked a partnership with Paris‑based Iktos valued at over €1 billion to harness generative AI and robotics for small‑molecule drug discovery. The alliance targets oncology and neurological diseases and follows a recent $888 million AI deal with Insilico Medicine. Iktos’ platform promises to cut discovery timelines from five years to two or less, while improving candidate quality. The collaboration will feed AI‑generated molecules into Servier’s pre‑clinical and clinical pipelines, expanding its R&D portfolio.
The Critical Need for Digital Transformation in the Peptide and API Sectors
Saharsh Davuluri, Vice Chairman of Neuland Labs, warns that peptide and API manufacturing must undergo rapid digital transformation by 2026 to keep pace with modern biologics. He highlights the surge in peptide therapeutics across cardiovascular, dermatology, and CNS indications, creating...
Coffee as a Staining Agent Substitute in Electron Microscopy
Researchers at Graz University of Technology have demonstrated that ordinary espresso can replace the hazardous uranyl acetate as a staining agent for electron microscopy. In side‑by‑side tests on ultrathin mitochondrial sections, coffee‑treated samples produced contrast equal to or better than...
Gene Therapy, Rare Diseases, and Transfer RNA
Tevard Biosciences showcased its suppressor tRNA platform at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, presenting pre‑clinical data that rescued full‑length dystrophin in Duchenne muscular dystrophy models and restored titin in dilated cardiomyopathy models. The technology corrects premature termination (nonsense) codons, enabling...
From Nuclear Winter to Renewal: Biotech Investing for 2026
The Denatured podcast episode "From Nuclear Winter to Renewal: Biotech Investing for 2026" features Sofinnova’s Maha Katabi and Ally Bridge’s Andrew Lam discussing a shift from a prolonged funding chill to a robust M&A environment. Guests highlight that 2026 will...
Parabilis Heads Biotech Fundraising Frenzy With $305M to Advance Cancer Drug
Parabilis Medicines announced an oversubscribed $305 million Series F financing, the largest of a busy Thursday for biotech fundraises. The capital will accelerate development of its lead peptide drug zolucatetide, which disrupts the β‑catenin/TCF transcription complex in rare and solid tumors. Parabilis...
Court Blocks HHS' 340B Rebate Programme Pilot
U.S. federal judges in the First Circuit upheld a Maine injunction that blocks the Health Resources and Services Administration’s pilot to replace upfront 340B drug discounts with post‑sale rebates. The decision keeps hospitals from having to purchase ten high‑volume medicines...
VC Funding Uptick in Back Half of 2025 Has Analysts Hopeful for 2026
Venture capital into Massachusetts biopharma fell to $6.85 billion in 2025, the lowest level since 2019, as a cautious IPO market and investor reluctance dampened the first half. Despite the slump, 60% of the year’s funding arrived in the back half,...
Medable Presents AI Agent for Automating Trial Master File Processes at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
Medable unveiled its Trial Master File (TMF) AI agent, a new module of the Agent Studio platform, at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. The agent automates document intake, classification, and metadata extraction before a one‑click upload to eTMF systems such as...
Ollin’s Drug Clears Retinal Disease Better than Roche’s Vabysmo in Phase 1b Trial
Ollin BioSciences announced Phase 1b data showing its bispecific antibody cleared retinal disease more effectively than Roche's Vabysmo. The early‑stage trial, initiated four months ago, enrolled a modest cohort and reported a favorable safety profile. Efficacy signals suggest superior anatomical...
Inside Doctronic's Experiment to Allow AI to Refill Prescriptions
Doctronic, a digital health platform, launched a pilot that lets an artificial‑intelligence engine automatically refill chronic‑care prescriptions. The AI cross‑checks patient records, insurance eligibility, and dosage guidelines before submitting orders to partner pharmacies. Early data show a 30% reduction in...
Synaffix and Sidewinder Agree to Advance Next-Generation Bispecific ADC Development
Synaffix, a Lonza company, and Sidewinder Therapeutics have signed a multi‑target licensing agreement to co‑develop first‑in‑class bispecific antibody‑drug conjugates (ADCs) for solid‑tumor indications. The deal gives Sidewinder access to Synaffix’s GlycoConnect antibody‑conjugation, HydraSpace polar spacer, and toxSYN linker‑payload technologies, while...
Study Finds Weight Returns More Quickly in GLP-1 Users
A new BMJ meta‑analysis of 37 studies involving over 9,000 adults shows that weight lost with GLP‑1 agonists such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is regained rapidly after treatment stops, at about 0.8 kg per month. This rebound rate is four times...
Tessera Therapeutics to Lay Off 90 Employees, According to Document
Tessera Therapeutics, a heavily funded gene‑editing startup, announced plans to lay off roughly 90 employees. The cuts represent a significant reduction in its workforce, signaling a shift in the company’s growth trajectory. The layoffs come as the biotech sector faces...
GSK, Noetik Sign Cancer Deal on AI Virtual Cell Models
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has entered a multi‑million‑dollar agreement with AI‑driven biotech Noetik to license its virtual cell models for cancer research. The partnership gives GSK access to Noetik’s proprietary AI simulations that predict cellular responses, allowing the pharma giant to evaluate...
Hengrui Gets First OK for a PD-L1/TGF-Beta Drug for Cancer
Jiangsu Hengrui Pharma secured China’s first approval for retlirafusp alfa, a bispecific PD‑L1/TGF‑beta fusion protein, as a frontline treatment for advanced gastric and gastro‑esophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The decision follows the phase 3 RELIGHT trial, which demonstrated a 34% overall‑survival gain versus...
Cas12a3 CRISPR System Targets tRNA Without Destroying Host Cell
Researchers at Utah State University identified a novel CRISPR nuclease, Cas12a3, that selectively cleaves the 3′ CCA tails of transfer RNAs, halting protein synthesis without damaging host DNA. Unlike Cas9, which makes a single cut in DNA, Cas12a3 is activated...
Diagonal Banks Another $125M for ‘Clustering’ Antibody Drugs
Biotech startup Diagonal Therapeutics secured $125 million in a Series B financing, bringing its total capital raised since 2024 to over $250 million. The funding will advance its lead candidate, DIAG723, a clustering antibody designed to reactivate the ALK1 pathway...
Reduced Cystathionine Γ-Lyase Levels May Contribute Meaningfully to Age-Related Neurodegeneration
Researchers found that cystathionine γ‑lyase (CSE) levels decline with age and that complete genetic removal of CSE in mice reproduces key features of brain aging. CSE‑deficient mice exhibited oxidative damage, blood‑brain barrier breakdown, impaired neurogenesis, and measurable cognitive deficits. The...
Improved Drainage of Cerebrospinal Fluid as a Time Critical Treatment for Stroke
Researchers at Monash University are developing non‑invasive neck devices that accelerate cerebrospinal fluid drainage via the glymphatic system immediately after ischemic stroke. Advanced imaging of 140 participants shows women have less lymphatic coverage in the brain’s outer layer, potentially explaining...
Blood Test Reveals Risk of Multimorbidity
A study by Karolinska Institutet identified a handful of blood biomarkers that reliably predict multimorbidity risk in people over 60. Researchers measured 54 markers and found seven, especially five metabolic indicators, linked to disease count, patterns, and progression speed. The...
The Top 12 Companies Hiring in Biopharma Now
BioSpace’s December hiring report shows a 10 % month‑over‑month drop in active job postings and a 16 % year‑on‑year decline versus December 2024, reflecting typical holiday‑season slowdown. A noticeable surge in postings during the first week of January signals that hiring momentum is...
Biopharmas Axed 47% More Employees Year Over Year
Biopharma layoffs surged 47% year‑over‑year in 2025, affecting roughly 42,700 employees, as capital tightening forced both early‑stage and large firms to cut staff. The wave was driven by investor pull‑back after biotech failures, prompting leaner operations and accelerated M&A activity....
Outsourcing Partnerships Fuel Global Biopharma Discovery and Scale-Up
Strategic outsourcing through CROs and CDMOs is reshaping biopharma pipelines, linking discovery, formulation, and early‑phase manufacturing into seamless workflows. By tapping external expertise, companies can accelerate complex modalities such as cell and gene therapies, RNA medicines, and next‑generation biologics. Integrated...
Novel Gene Therapy Approach Targets Pain Centers in the Brain
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have unveiled the first central‑nervous‑system‑targeted gene therapy designed to relieve chronic pain by modulating cortical opioid circuits. Using an AI‑driven mouse model, they identified a persistent affective pain signature that morphine reverses, then engineered...
Timing Pays: Ventyx Deal Rewards Early IPO Investors
Ventyx $VTYX acquired by Lilly $LLY for $14/share or $1.2B valuation. IPO'd in 2021 at $16/share, around $800M market cap. So acquisition is like ~15% below the IPO price but ~50% above the IPO valuation Great pivot from TYK2 lead program...
Low‑dose IL‑2 Curbs Artery Inflammation, Boosts Tregs
Blocking artery inflammation and increasing Treg cells in a small randomized trial with low-dose interleukin-2 https://t.co/ecEEnwUuhr
Alumis’ Phase III TYK2 Data Intensify Psoriasis Efficacy Contest
Alumis announced Phase III results for its oral TYK2 inhibitor envudeucitinib in moderate‑to‑severe plaque psoriasis. The trial met its primary endpoint, with 71% of patients achieving PASI‑90 at week 16, outperforming the active comparator and matching or exceeding data from...
Jonathan Norris' Venture Healthcare Report: Must‑Read, Download Now
Every year at this time, Jonathan Norris' Venture Healthcare Report is a can't miss. It's out now. Download at the link below.👇
Bioinformatics Evolves Fast—Static Recipes Become Outdated
1/ Bioinformatics moves fast. If you rely only on recipes from books, you’ll soon find they’re obsolete. Let me show you why. 🧵 https://t.co/aYztybAnOu
$1B-Plus Biotech Takeouts: 2025 Biggest Year in Last Decade
Biotech M&A in 2025 saw a surge in mega‑transactions, with deals exceeding $1 billion accounting for more than half of all takeouts. The total value of these large deals topped $10 billion, marking the strongest year for billion‑dollar biotech acquisitions in the...
Why JPM2026 Is the Must‑Watch BioTech Event
As we are heading into the most important week in the BioTech & Pharma sector - #JPM2026 - here is an excellent 🧵👇by @statnews’ @adamfeuerstein which explains - to those less familiar, what is exactly #JPM26 & why it is...
Autoclaving Phosphate with Agar Kills Bacterial Colonies
Got no colonies? Maybe you autoclaved the phosphate and agar at the same time. One more thing to panic about. https://t.co/HtnrMLFdml
Delay Discounting Correlates with Depression but Does Not Predict Relapse After Antidepressant Discontinuation
The AIDA longitudinal study examined whether delay discounting could predict depressive relapse after antidepressant discontinuation. While patients with remitted major depressive disorder displayed modestly higher discount rates than healthy controls and discounting correlated with HAM‑D scores, baseline discounting and changes...
Advancing Rare Disease Therapies: Policy and Regulatory Outlook
I’m coming up on @SquawkCNBC where I’ll be discussing recent advances in the treatment of rare diseases and the policy and regulatory path for bringing them to patients. https://t.co/9xsIvvY5Tm
2026 Marks First AI Prescription Renewals and ChatGPT Health
2026 is off with two new precedents in health and medical AI —@doctronic given green light in Utah for AI prescription renewals, pilot study 250 patients https://t.co/EQ3fmqWwyz —ChatGPT Health initiated https://t.co/VOvd3wVkeR @fidjissimo Both need prospective study, rigorous independent assessment, and report of results
Shared Neurogenetic Architecture Links Adolescent Neurodevelopmental Deviations to Adult Psychopathological Procrastination
A new study demonstrates that the same genetic factors shaping adolescent brain development also predispose individuals to pathological procrastination in adulthood. Using twin data, high‑resolution MRI and normative modeling, researchers identified overlapping neurogenetic signatures in cortical and subcortical regions linked...
Trust Library Sources over Conspiracy for Vaccine Facts
Our friend needs to visit the public library, and rely less on conspiracy sites. I develop low cost vaccines for the world’s poorest people, which actually bypass big pharma. Almost all childhood vaccines are tested through RCTs, available National Library...
Trump Administration Backs Pediatric PRVs
The Trump administration is lobbying Congress to approve the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act, which would reauthorize the rare pediatric disease priority voucher (PRV) program. The bill has already cleared the House of Representatives. In the Senate, Senator...
Lilly Snaps up Ventyx for $1.2B in Pursuit of Oral Immune Drugs
Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2 billion, paying a 62 % premium to secure the oral NLRP3 inhibitor VTX3232. The drug showed a 64 % reduction in a cardiac‑risk biomarker and synergistic effects with semaglutide in obesity‑related trials. The purchase expands...
ABVX's UC Expansion Will Boost M&A Valuation
Prediction: High penetration of the existing UC market is one thing, but $ABVX expanding the UC market on their own will be looked back on as the key piece that ultimately took the M&A value to the next...
AI Tool Can Take a Cattle's Temperature with only a Photo
Researchers at the University of Arkansas unveiled CattleFever, an AI system that estimates a calf’s body temperature from a single RGB‑thermal photo. The model, trained on the newly released CattleFace‑RGBT dataset with 13 facial landmarks, achieved temperature predictions within one...
2026 Predictions: Historic FDA Shift, Plausible Mechanisms, Bespoke Tx, RFK Jr., Biotechs, State AGs, Peptides, Embryos
The blog forecasts a historic regulatory shift in 2026, with the FDA likely approving Capricor’s deramiocel for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and at least two additional cell therapies based on limited data. New FDA buzzwords—plausible mechanisms, N=1 trials, bespoke therapies, and...
Autonomous Brain Microchips Eliminate Need for Surgery
Excited to share the recent #Forbes article featuring our technology, #Circulatronics — a new generation of 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 that are 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞! 🧠 Forbes feature: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2025/12/29/how-our-own-cells-could-implant-the-next-generation-of-nonsurgical-brain-microchips/ 🎥 MIT Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDcgLM6Glg4 📖 MIT news release: https://news.mit.edu/2025/new-therapeutic-brain-implants-defy-surgery-need-1105
GISAID Faces New Issues Compromising Viral Sequence Data
Repeating to fix link: More problems with #GISAID, the international database that is the key repository of #flu and #Covid viral sequences, @kakape reports. https://t.co/YCblC7jSpf
Ribosomal Engineering Creates 'Super-Probiotic' Bacteria with Enhanced Immune Activation
Researchers at Shinshu University used ribosome engineering to create a Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG strain with a K56N mutation in ribosomal protein S12. The mutant displays markedly more surface moonlighting proteins, especially GAPDH, leading to double the adhesion to intestinal cells...
AI Predicts Hundreds of Diseases Years Ahead From Health Data
Large health models and predicting diseases —In September, >1,200 diseases predicted and when, by EHR and lifestyle factors, for 20-years forward https://t.co/31prJJL1v6 —Yesterday, >130 diseases were predicted from 1 night of sleep data and EHR (Figure) https://t.co/ebHlmaWjfK
AbbVie’s $20B RVMD Acquisition Hits JPM26 M&A Milestone
$ABBV taking out $RVMD would certainly check the #JPM26 big M&A box. $20B plus deal.
A Small Sample of the Complexity of Hair Follicle Aging
A recent single‑cell RNA sequencing study mapped the transcriptional landscape of human hair follicles across a wide age range, profiling 57,181 cells from young, middle‑aged and elderly donors. The analysis identified three distinct keratinocyte subtypes and highlighted activation of the...
Two Novel Strategies Supercharge Cancer Immunity
2 new ways to get the immune system revved up vs cancer —intratumor vaccination https://t.co/PUWOHy8Dkw —bacterial outer membrane vesicles https://t.co/2xC5PAC8OG