Merck in $32bn Revolution talks
Aleth LifeSci Brief: 9 Jan 2026
ALETH / LIFESCI-BRIEF / 2026-01-09 / MERCK IN $32BN REVOLUTION TALKSThe Aleth Briefs trace each story to its original source and show how the week unfolded.
The week in five lines
Merck was reportedly in $32bn talks to acquire Revolution Medicines.
GSK and Ionis reported a hepatitis B functional cure.
Novo Nordisk launched its Wegovy pill at $149 a month.
The CDC cut universal childhood vaccine recommendations to 11 diseases.
Amgen bought UK biotech Dark Blue for up to $840m.
In this edition
Monday: Novo Wegovy pill; US childhood vaccines; NIH funding; Zenas readout
Tuesday: Amgen Dark Blue takeover; Alumis psoriasis; STAAR rejects Alcon
Monday 5 January
Novo Nordisk put its Wegovy pill on sale in the US at $149 a month.
Novo began selling Wegovy as a once-daily pill on Monday, with the 1.5 mg starting dose at $149 a month for cash-paying patients and as little as $25 a month for commercially insured patients using its savings offer. The 4 mg dose holds at $149 until 15 April, then rises to $199, while the top 9 mg and 25 mg doses cost $299. It is the first oral GLP-1 cleared for weight loss, stocked at >70,000 pharmacies including CVS and Costco and through telehealth providers Ro, LifeMD and WeightWatchers.
The CDC reorganised its childhood vaccine schedule, leaving 11 diseases universally recommended.
Acting on a presidential memorandum, the CDC split the childhood immunisation schedule Monday into three tiers: universal, for high-risk groups, or based on shared clinical decision-making. Influenza, hepatitis A, meningococcal ACWY and rotavirus left the universal tier, while Covid-19 and hepatitis B had already been narrowed in 2025. Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said the schedule now more closely matches Australia, Japan and Europe, with insurance coverage unchanged.
A US appeals court upheld the block on NIH cap on research overhead at 15%.
The US First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that NIH’s 15% cap on indirect-cost reimbursement violated congressional and departmental rules, affirming a lower-court injunction. Indirect costs fund the facilities, administration and core staff supporting grants, determining how much universities retain. The unanimous panel left negotiated rates in place while the case proceeds. Judge Kermit Lipez wrote that Congress had barred NIH from replacing them with a uniform rate.
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 25-1343 (opinion) - US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Zenas BioPharma’s obexelimab hit its phase 3 goal in IgG4-related disease, but the shares fell more than half.
In the registrational INDIGO trial, obexelimab cut the risk of an IgG4-related disease flare requiring rescue therapy by 56% against placebo (hazard ratio 0.44, p=0.0005) across 194 patients over 52 weeks, and met all four key secondary endpoints with a favourable safety profile. Investors focused on an unfavourable cross-trial comparison with Amgen’s approved Uplizna (inebilizumab), and the shares fell by more than half. Zenas said obexelimab could serve as a first-line therapy.
Tuesday 6 January
Amgen acquired Oxford spinout Dark Blue Therapeutics for up to $840m, adding a preclinical leukaemia programme.
Amgen has acquired Dark Blue Therapeutics, a University of Oxford spinout, in a deal worth up to $840m (upfront not disclosed). Dark Blue’s lead molecule is a small-molecule protein degrader aimed at MLLT1 and MLLT3, two proteins that drive certain forms of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and is in late preclinical work. R&D head Jay Bradner said “acute myeloid leukemia remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat“. It is the latest US takeover of a British biotech.
Alumis’s oral TYK2 inhibitor envudeucitinib cleared both phase 3 psoriasis trials, and the shares more than doubled.
Envudeucitinib met all primary and secondary endpoints in the ONWARD1 and ONWARD2 studies in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, with 74% of patients reaching PASI 75 and 59% reaching clear or almost-clear skin at week 16, deepening to nearly 65% at PASI 90 by week 24. The next-generation, highly selective drug beat Otezla across skin-clearance measures and sets up a filing against BMS’s Sotyktu, the only oral TYK2 drug on the market. Alumis plans to submit to the FDA in H2 2026.
STAAR Surgical’s shareholders voted down Alcon’s $30.75-a-share takeover, ending months of open conflict.
STAAR said a shareholder meeting had failed to approve its merger with Alcon, and that it would terminate the agreement and stay independent on Nasdaq. Alcon had raised its all-cash offer to $30.75 a share, a 74% premium to STAAR’s 90-day average, but ran into Broadwood Partners, STAAR’s largest holder at 30.2%, which campaigned against the deal. No termination fee is payable by either side.
STAAR Surgical Announces Preliminary Results of Special Meeting of Stockholders
Alcon Announces Amended Merger Agreement with STAAR Surgical
Wednesday 7 January
GSK and Ionis said their hepatitis B drug bepirovirsen met its goal in two phase 3 trials, raising the prospect of a functional cure.
Across >1,800 patients in 29 countries, B-Well 1 and 2 showed bepirovirsen plus standard care significantly improved functional cure rates versus standard care, particularly where baseline surface-antigen levels ≤1,000 IU/ml. GSK licensed the antisense oligo from Ionis. A functional cure with sustained viral suppression off treatment, has long eluded a disease normally managed with lifelong antivirals. GSK plans global filings from Q1 2026.
Eli Lilly agreed to buy Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2bn
Lilly will pay $14.00 a share in cash, a 62% premium to Ventyx’s 30-day average, valuing the biotech at about $1.2bn. Ventyx brings a pipeline of oral drugs against the NLRP3 inflammasome, a pathway tied to cardiometabolic, neurodegenerative and autoimmune disease, and the deal is expected to close in H1 2026. Lilly R&D chief Daniel Skovronsky said “inflammation is a key driver of many chronic diseases“.
Thursday 8 January
Merck was reported to be in talks to buy Revolution Medicines for up to $32bn, which would be the biggest healthcare deal since Pfizer bought Seagen.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Merck & Co was in talks to acquire Revolution Medicines at a valuation of $28bn to $32bn, sending the biotech’s shares higher. The attraction of Revolution’s is daraxonrasib, an oral RAS(ON) inhibitor in late-stage trials for pancreatic and lung cancers, the leading asset in a class big pharma has chased for years. Earlier in the week the Wall Street Journal had reported that AbbVie was close to a deal, but it told Reuters it “is not in discussions with Revolution Medicines“. Neither company confirmed the talks, said to be weeks from agreement.
AbbVie denies media reports of talks to buy Revolution Medicines - Reuters
Revolution Medicines Draws Takeover Interest - Wall Street Journal
Merck in talks to buy Revolution Medicines in up to $32bn deal - Financial Times
An Oxford-led review projected that people who stop obesity drugs regain the weight within about two years, reversing the metabolic gains.
A University of Oxford analysis of 37 studies covering 9,341 people found patients regained about 0.4 kg a month after stopping weight-loss drugs, returning to their starting weight in roughly 1.7 years. Cardiometabolic markers reverted within 1.4 years. Weight returned almost four times faster than after diet-and-exercise programmes. Writing in The BMJ, the authors said drugs alone may not deliver lasting control and urged health systems to plan for millions expected to stop treatment.
New study finds that stopping weight-loss drugs is linked to faster regain than ending diet programmes - University of Oxford
Friday 9 January
Aktis Oncology priced a $318m IPO, the first biotech listing of 2026.
The radiopharmaceutical developer priced an upsized offering of 17.65m shares at $18 after Thursday’s close in New York, above its range, for gross proceeds of $318m, with the offering expected to close on 12 January. Its shares were set to begin trading on Nasdaq as “AKTS” on 9 January. Existing partner Eli Lilly had indicated an interest in buying about $100m of the stock, roughly a third of the deal. Aktis builds miniprotein radioconjugates that carry radiation to tumours; its lead candidate targets Nectin-4.
Aktis Oncology Announces Pricing of its Upsized Initial Public Offering
Aktis Oncology, Form S-1/A - SEC EDGAR
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