PD‑1/VEGF Deals Surge, AbbVie Pays $650M Amid
In today's PD-1/VEGF news: $SMMT submitted ivonescimab to the FDA in Q4, as it promised to do, but chose to disclose the filing today... I guess to get a JPM bump? No PDUFA date assigned yet, so.... And $ABBV enters the party, picking up a PD-1/VEGF antibody from China's Remegen for $650M upfront. Recall, Pfizer paid $1.25 billion upfront for its Chinese antibody from 3SBio. Does all of this have the odiferous whiff of TIGIT? We'll know a lot more later this year. #JPM26
ABVX Faces Unofficial $200 Bid Amid Multiple Suitors
$ABVX has an unofficial bid for ~$200/share if you believe the reporting out of France this morning, plus two more potential bidders circling. Of course, the source is reputable enough that the little old Wall Street Journal has picked...
Pharma Accelerates PD1‑VEGF Combo Trials Across Major Players
Expect BIG activity from pharma with PD1xVEGF combos… $SMMT Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration with $GSK to Evaluate Ivonescimab in Combination with GSK’s B7-H3 Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) $PFE has already telegraphed (and started to operationalize) the same playbook. https://t.co/JTY2cuJtMG https://t.co/0zCI8zFouB
Oncology IPO Outspends AKTS, $800M Funding, $205M R&D
So a nice first day trading for $AKTS, +24%, but here comes an oncology IPO of a quite different order: Eikon has had $800m private money invested in it so far (vs $140m for AKTS), and blew $205m on R&D...
AI Giants Race Into Healthcare Sector
A few days ago it was @OpenAI, now @Anthropic. The others soon. The push into healthcare https://t.co/5jVJVJ39MH
Heart Scarring, Not Training, Drives Arrhythmias in Veteran Athletes
Occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias in endurance male athletes age 50+ correlated with prior heart scarring (myocardial fibrosis), not exercise patterns https://t.co/CTWLLEZVSI https://t.co/fqVhTkV7BN
FDA Delays Stoke's Fast‑track Filing for Epilepsy Drug
$STOK FDA puts off Stoke’s request for faster filing of severe epilepsy drug https://t.co/F8iRgZ5h3o #JPM26
Stay Calm: Biotech Fundamentals Outshine JPM26 Hype
Good morning on this Sunday before #JPM26! I wrote a JPM opener newsletter with some advice for all of you: Chill out. The super-sized gathering of the biopharma universe is important, but it’s not going to make or break the...
Biotech Funding Hits Record Levels in January
Biotech capital markets are clearly open for business: $2.6B in public FOPO so far in January, the most ever pre-JPM conference. Private VC financings of over >$2B in the same period. Investors clearly have cash to put to work......
Meningococcal Vaccine No Longer Universal Despite Deadly Risk
#Meningococcal disease has been rare. But when it occurs, it is devastating. High death rate. Survivors often lose limbs, as this person did. There's no way to accurately assess who is at risk. And yet meningococcal vaxes are no longer...
Free Tutorial: From FASTQ to GSEA in Bulk RNA‑seq
Free tutorial: bulk RNAseq analysis from fastq to GSEA analysis (watch the full playlist) https://t.co/v0UHRSqJ63 https://t.co/LtdxPNYG5Y
Resumes Boast AI Bioinformatics, but Real Expertise Missing
Looking at bioinformaticians’ profiles these days, you'd think everyone has decades of experience in cutting-edge single-cell and AI-driven bioinformatics. But something’s missing… 👇 https://t.co/yvmvcwXWyr
Checklist to Spot Viable Cytokine Bispecifics Amid Hype
The Next Generation of Multi-Functional I&I Therapeutics | Ep. 903 How to Pick Winners From a Crowded Cytokine War Bispecifics are everywhere, China biotech is running every combo possible including the ones you have not thought of yet. Trispecifics are next, and...
Tissue‑resident Macrophages Drive Cardioprotection, Not Tolerance
1/ 💡While much of the immunology field is fixated on immune reset in B cells and autoimmunity, a quieter version of the same idea is emerging in cardio-immunology. 🫀 Except we are not talking about lymphocytes. This is all about tissue-resident macrophages. And...
PBMs and GPOs Inflate Drug Prices, Hide Billions
“Bullshit” — The New Way Health Giants Hide Billions" https://t.co/6PcmoY1pmh This PBM GPO investigative story makes my blood boil... these intermediaries are why the list-to-net spread for many drugs is over 50% in the US... siphoning off dollars at the expense of...
Massive Single‑cell Data: Deeper Insight or Just Bigger Counts?
1/ Another single-cell study drops. 500,000 cells sequenced. More UMAP plots. More clusters. But here’s the question: Are we learning more—or just counting better? 🧵 https://t.co/nuYRT0GTAq
Claude Code Boosts Bioinformatics Efficiency Tenfold
learn how to use Claude Code. It's changing how I am working as a bioinformatician. If you know what you want, it 10x my efficiency. It is scary to see its power. but like any technology, it will cause disruption. We just need to...
Sequencing Depth Drives Artifacts, Confounds scRNA‑seq Analyses
1/ Per-cell sequencing depth is a major technical effect in scRNA-seq. Different depths change what the data looks like and create artifacts that propagate into clustering, DE, and downstream modeling. And depth heterogeneity itself becomes the signal your methods pick up. https://t.co/RlAD1ONGVX
Transparent Valuation Links Investor Thesis to Share Price
Transparency in valuation is a good thing. People may have different assumptions but it’s important to understand how your thesis as an investor translates into a share price. Thank your for posting @Biotech2k1
Context and Competition: Key Framework for Biotech Investors
The context of the data matter. How does it stack up against the competition? Is there other competition? This framework will help investors organise their thoughts #learnbiotechinvesting #biotech #investing #BiotechPrometheus https://t.co/jKBHRAXsch
Biotech CEOs Dust Off S‑1s, Hopeful IPO Surge
That blowing sound you hear is from hundreds of biotech ceos blowing the dust off their S-1s, fingers crossed.
Political Appointees Cut Universal Meningococcal Vaccine Recommendation
When political appointees rewrote U.S. vaccination policy, they removed meningococcal vaccine from the list of those recommended for all kids. It protects against a rare but devastating illness with a high fatality rate. @jakescottMD's take is worth the read. https://t.co/poDJrAZQtO
CEO Meeting Canceled; Conference Presentation Likely Scrapped
$RVMD - I had a meeting scheduled with the CEO on Monday morning. The company just cancelled. #JPM26 RevMed is also scheduled to present at the conference on Monday morning. I assume that’s cancelled, too, but I don’t have confirmation.
Biotech TV Takes Over Union Square with Industry Leaders
Biotech TV is going to blanket Union Square this year. Starting Sunday, we'll have @ByAmyBrown @RS_Flinn @chloeckirk and myself hustling around town with the industry's top leaders. Please tune in. https://t.co/mtJTzUF5Sd
NTLA’s 8‑K Reveals Liver Failure Death From Sepsis
Context: $NTLA just 8K'd (not a PR, hmmm wonder why) that their Hy's Law patient's autopsy showed ruptured GI ulcer and sepsis as the ultimate cause of death. Anyone saying this is not related to the liver failure is showing...
Predicting $20B+ Biotech M&A Deal by 2026
One of my #JPM26 predictions for 2026 is that we'll see a $20B-plus M&A deal in biotech. So here's hoping any RevMed deal comes after Monday morning. https://t.co/5pe4ymAILt
Sepsis Often Leads to Death In
Hey @grok is sepsis a common proximate cause of death in patients with drug induced liver failure?
Flu Deaths Rise as Child Vaccination Rates Fall
1. There's a new FluView report from #CDC. Let's dive in. CDC was informed of 7 more kids who've died from #flu, bringing the season's toll to 17. Sadly, this number is going to rise. Vaccine uptake among kids has been...
Biotech Deal Surge: Wnt, NLRP3, GLP‑1, and More
Your Weekly Biotech News Fix | Ep. 901 Designed to be consumed as a quick scroll 🧬 Parabilis - $305M Wnt bet 🔥 $LLY - Buys $VTYX (NLRP3) 🎯 $PFE - Cartography antigen deal 🧲 $AMGN - Dark Blue acquisition 🦠 $GSK / $IONS - HBV...
CHIP Clones Raise Cardiovascular Risk in Cancer Survivors
More evidence that blood stem cell clones (CHIP), common with increasing age, increase the risk of cardiovascular events, from people treated with cancer https://t.co/56YDjxshjg https://t.co/kdUksoCFmI
Red Blood Cells Drive Vascular Damage in Long‑Term Type 2 Diabetes
Implicating red cells as an underpinning of the vascular damage seen with long duration Type 2 diabetes https://t.co/FzvmreCtn7 https://t.co/MdgpHmpRvo
Nominate Under‑35 Biotech Trailblazers for 2026 Award
Do you know an up and coming someone killing it in biotech? If they're under 35 years of age, please nominate them for the 2026 Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 Award. (or just email me. address is in bio) https://t.co/90fwj4GjNU
Zanidatamab Gastric Cancer Data Faces Seven Bearish Concerns
It's good to see new trial readouts at #GI26, although there are 7 reasons to be bearish about the zanidatamab data in gastric cancer: https://t.co/g2MbrPI7Iu https://t.co/tBY2yJ6YMe
APOE Ε3/Ε4 Alleles Drive Majority of Alzheimer’s Cases
A new report claims that the APOE gene alleles accounts for the vast majority of Alzheimer's cases: "Without strong underlying risks from APOE ε3 and ε4, almost all AD and half of all dementia would not occur." https://t.co/KgRFx36WOn
Linking DNA Mutations to Gene Expression in Single Cells
Genotype-to-phenotype mapping of somatic clonal mosaicism via single-cell co-capture of DNA mutations and mRNA transcripts https://t.co/6Lss1ukbvp https://t.co/bGwnmQEYfI
UCB Should Demand Label Change; Sonelokimab Inferior
“THAT WILL DECIMATE THE COMPETITION” If the FDA is dumb enough to put a 29% delta on the $MLTX label, UCB should simply request a label change to include *their* P2 efficacy data on the label….where their delta was ***36%***. 36>29 for...
US Cuts Childhood Vaccines, Lagging Behind Peers
Did slashing multiple vaccines from the childhood vaccine schedule bring the US in line with other countries? In a word, no. The US now recommends all kids be protected against fewer diseases than South Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan &...
AI Accelerates Answers, but Domain Knowledge Solves Problems
1/ AI tools are useless if you don't know what you're looking for. I use Perplexity for search. But the AI didn't solve my IGV bug - my domain knowledge did. The AI just helped me find the answer faster. https://t.co/zi2e2FbO5O
ASND Combo Shows Robust Growth, Heads to Phase 3
$ASND -2.5% Looks approvable (priority review; class precedent). Combo = upside optionality, not the label. COACH Wk-52 open-label Ph2 (n=21) CNP + hGH >AGV: 8.8 (naïve) / 8.42 cm/yr (prior-CNP), >97th pct vs avg-stature >Z-score: +1.02 / +0.86; proportionality/arm-span up; bone age “consistent” >AEs...
UniQure Secures FDA Type A Meeting
$QURE +13% uniQure Announces Type A Meeting Scheduled with FDA 🍿 uniQure Announces Type A Meeting Scheduled with FDA https://t.co/iqZkaNYD7Z https://t.co/lRcR6vgV0D
U.S. Becomes Outlier in Global Vaccine Schedules
Fact check: When it comes to vaccine schedules, the U.S. is now the outlier STAT analysis shows top officials have put the country out of step with peer nations By @HelenBranswell https://t.co/t8ZmqatU1U
Flu Vaccine Shields Heart: Prevents Heart Attacks
Remember: Influenza causes myocardial infarction, heart attacks. One of the best ways to protect your heart health is to keep up with your flu vaccine. Link to @nejm article here and attached. https://t.co/yeHUdEClyf
Baby KJ Scientist Launches Aurora Therapeutics for Personalized CRISPR
Key scientist from Baby KJ team launches startup to scale personalized CRISPR medicines Aurora Therapeutics is one of several efforts vying for space in the growing field Great writing from @Jasonmmast and @ADeAngelis_bio https://t.co/kbDJxY6Sq5
INSM Beats Q4 Forecast, 2025 Revenue Exceeds Expectations
$INSM pre-announces Q4 Brinspuri sales of $144.6M. Consensus $67M, per Visible Alpha. Total '25 revenue $606.4 vs consensus $523M 2026 Arikayce revenue forecast $450-470M vs consensus $488M https://t.co/LhY6SRoTY3
Market Unconvinced: KYRS Needs Functional Data
$KYRS +1% Nice science, market not convinced. KB407 shows delivery + CFTR protein in bronchoscopic biopsies, but no sweat chloride/NPD/FEV1. End of day, PD != clinical translation. Also a crowded CF GTx race = priced in. $FDMT 4D-710 (ppFEV1/LCI signals),...
Baby KJ Scientist Launches Startup to Scale Personalized CRISPR Therapies
Key scientist from Baby KJ team launches startup to scale personalized CRISPR medicines https://t.co/7RY4SKrx9Y via @Jasonmmast @ADeAngelis_bio
Know the FDA Process: Key to Biotech Investment Success
Investors should understand the #FDA regulatory process well. Here is a quick summary At each step investors should ask themselves if the company is developing things in a way that will satisfy the FDA Until a drug is approved the FDA is...
Independent Low-Cost Vaccines Keep Pfizer Out of Markets
ANS: I don’t take a dime from Pfizer or any other big pharma company. If and when you decide to visit a library instead of relying on conspiracy sites, you’ll find we develop low cost, patent free vaccines that bypass...
JPM Acts as Audit, Reveals Biotech Translation Friction
JPM Isn’t a Conference. It’s an Audit. What 1,000 companies and 6 years of data quietly tell you about biotech translation. Part 1. Why you should care. JPM decides who looks fundable before a single new dataset drops. That sounds backward, but it...
Investors Now Require Clean Data and Clear Milestones
From Proof to Payoff | Ep. 900 2025 changed biotech translation. Capital came back with rules. No data, no money. Clean data, financing opens. If your next readout doesn’t force a decision, you stall, no matter how pretty the biology looks. What the market pays for...