ALETH / LIFESCI-BRIEF / 2026-03-27 / MERCK BUYS TERNS FOR $6.7BNThe Aleth Briefs link to the sources behind the stories and show how the week unfolded.
The week in five lines:
Merck agreed to pay $6.7bn in cash for Terns and its oral leukaemia drug.
AstraZeneca’s tozorakimab cut COPD flare-ups in two phase 3s, an IL-33 first.
Gilead will pay $1.68bn upfront for Ouro’s autoimmune T cell engager.
Pfizer’s Lyme vaccine missed its primary endpoint, but Pfizer plans to file.
The FDA approved Avlayah, Denali’s brain-penetrant Hunter syndrome drug.
Browse by day:
Weekend catch-up: Opdivo · Earendil · Dizal
Monday: Abbott · Lyme vaccine · Insmed · Gilead-Ouro · Actos · Lilly insulin
Tuesday: ImmunityBio · Merck-Quotient · Karyopharm
Wednesday: Merck-Terns · Takeda · Denali · Corcept · Ionis
Thursday: Recordati · Kodiak · Wave · Rocket
Friday: AstraZeneca · Novartis-Excellergy
Weekend catch-up
The FDA approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) with chemotherapy for previously untreated advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
The approval covers stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma in patients aged 12 and over. In the 994-patient SWOG 1826 trial, Opdivo plus AVD chemotherapy cut the risk of progression or death by about 58% against Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) plus AVD. Opdivo also gained a full approval in relapsed or refractory disease.
US and EMA approvals for Opdivo in Hodgkin lymphoma · Bristol Myers Squibb
FDA approves nivolumab with chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma · FDA
AI drug developer Earendil Labs raised $787m.
Investors include Dimension Capital, DST Global and Sanofi. Earendil says its AI platform has produced >40 programmes, led by HXN-1001, an anti-TL1A antibody ready for phase 2.
$787 million in financing to scale AI-driven biologics development · Earendil Labs
Dizal’s Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) beat chemotherapy as first-line treatment for lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertions in a phase 3 trial.
On Saturday, Dizal said WU-KONG28, run in 16 countries and regions, met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Zegfrovy is already approved in China and the US for previously treated patients, and Dizal will talk to regulators about new filings.
Dizal announces positive topline phase 3 results from WU-KONG28 · Dizal
Monday 23 March
Abbott completed its $21bn acquisition of cancer screening company Exact Sciences.
Exact Sciences is now a wholly owned subsidiary, and its shares last traded on Nasdaq on 20 March. Abbott says the deal makes it a leader in the $60bn US cancer screening and precision oncology diagnostics market.
Pfizer and Valneva’s Lyme vaccine missed its primary endpoint, but Pfizer plans to file.
In the phase 3 VALOR trial, the six-valent vaccine was 73.2% effective from 28 days after the fourth dose (95% CI 15.8-93.5). Fewer Lyme cases accrued than expected, so the lower bound of that interval missed the pre-set bar of 20% in the primary analysis. A second pre-specified analysis, counting cases from the day after the fourth dose, showed 74.8% efficacy and cleared the bar. No human Lyme vaccine is approved.
Lyme vaccine candidate demonstrates strong efficacy in phase 3 VALOR trial · Pfizer
Insmed’s inhaled Arikayce (amikacin) met its primary endpoint in the phase 3b ENCORE trial in patients with a new occurrence of MAC lung infection.
Added to azithromycin and ethambutol in patients who had not yet had antibiotics, it beat placebo on respiratory symptoms and on every multiplicity-controlled culture-conversion endpoint, but not on the fatigue endpoint. Insmed plans to file to expand the US label in H2 2026.
Positive topline results from phase 3b ENCORE study of Arikayce · Insmed
Gilead agreed to buy Ouro Medicines for $1.68bn upfront.
Gilead pays $1.68bn at closing and up to $500m in milestones. Ouro’s OM336 (gamgertamig) is a BCMAxCD3 T cell engager in phase 1/2 for autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and immune thrombocytopenia, with pivotal studies due in 2027.
Galapagos, in advanced talks to join, would pay half the upfront and milestones, take on Ouro’s staff and fund development up to registrational studies. Gilead would keep commercial rights and pay Galapagos royalties of 20-23%.
Gilead Sciences to acquire Ouro Medicines · Gilead Sciences
Galapagos and Gilead in advanced discussions to collaborate · Galapagos
The US Supreme Court refused to hear Takeda and Lilly’s challenge to a racketeering class action over the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone).
The order lets the case under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) go ahead as the lower courts allowed. Lilly co-promoted Actos until 2006.
Docket for 25-625 · Supreme Court of the United States
SCOTUS order advances racketeering case involving Takeda, Lilly · Fierce Pharma
Eli Lilly will withdraw some human insulin, insulin lispro and insulin glargine presentations from parts of the EU before Q2 2027, the EMA said.
Lilly is stopping them for commercial reasons, not over quality or safety, and the products affected vary by country. Doctors are asked to move patients to alternatives with close glucose monitoring.
Eli Lilly insulin (various forms) supply shortage · EMA
Tuesday 24 March
The FDA warned ImmunityBio that a TV advert and a podcast with chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong falsely promoted its bladder cancer drug Anktiva.
The letter, dated 13 March and published on 24 March, says the promotions create the misleading impression that Anktiva can cure and even prevent all cancer. The podcast aired on The Sean Spicer Show in January. The FDA had sent two earlier untitled letters over similar claims.
ImmunityBio warning letter, 13 March 2026 · FDA
Merck signed a deal worth up to $2.2bn with Quotient Therapeutics to find drug targets for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Quotient gets $20m upfront and will apply its somatic genomics platform.
Quotient announces collaboration with Merck in IBD · Quotient Therapeutics
Karyopharm’s Xpovio (selinexor) plus Jakafi (ruxolitinib) shrank spleens in first-line myelofibrosis but missed the symptom co-primary endpoint in phase 3.
In the 353-patient SENTRY trial, 50% of patients on the combination had a ≥35% spleen volume reduction at week 24, against 28% on Jakafi alone. Symptom scores improved similarly in both arms. Karyopharm will discuss a filing with the FDA, citing an early overall survival hazard ratio of 0.43.
Phase 3 SENTRY trial in myelofibrosis met first co-primary endpoint · Karyopharm
Wednesday 25 March
Merck agreed to buy Terns Pharmaceuticals for $6.7bn in cash.
Merck pays $53 a share, a 31% premium to Terns’ 60-day volume-weighted average share price. The deal is worth about $5.7bn net of Terns’ cash. It gets TERN-701, an oral allosteric BCR::ABL1 inhibitor in a phase 1/2 trial in chronic myeloid leukaemia patients previously treated with at least one tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Merck expects to close in Q2 2026 and take a charge of about $5.8bn.
Merck to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals, expanding its hematology pipeline · Merck
Takeda set out a restructuring meant to deliver >¥200bn ($1.3bn) in annualised gross savings by FY2028, at a cost of about ¥150bn ($940m) in FY2026.
The savings come from streamlined corporate functions and technology-driven simplification, and will largely fund launches of oveporexton, rusfertide and zasocitinib. Specific measures will follow under CEO-elect Julie Kim.
Takeda announces next steps in its transformation · Takeda
Denali’s Avlayah became the first FDA-approved biologic designed to cross the blood-brain barrier.
Avlayah (tividenofusp alfa) is an enzyme replacement therapy for the neurological effects of Hunter syndrome in children weighing at least 5 kg who have not yet reached advanced neurological decline. The accelerated approval rests on a 91% cut in a cerebrospinal fluid biomarker, heparan sulphate, by week 24 in a phase 1/2 trial.
It is the first new FDA-approved Hunter syndrome treatment in nearly 20 years. Denali also received a rare paediatric disease priority review voucher.
Denali announces approval of Avlayah for Hunter syndrome · Denali Therapeutics
The FDA approved Corcept’s Lifyorli (relacorilant) with nab-paclitaxel for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
The label covers patients who have had one to three prior regimens including Avastin (bevacizumab). In the 381-patient ROSELLA trial, median overall survival was 16 months against 11.9 months on nab-paclitaxel alone, and median progression-free survival 6.5 against 5.5 months.
FDA approves relacorilant for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer · FDA
Ionis cut the annual list price of Tryngolza (olezarsen) from $595,000 to $40,000 ahead of an expected label expansion.
The new price applies from 1 April, both to its current use in familial chylomicronaemia syndrome and to severe hypertriglyceridaemia, where the FDA is due to decide by 30 June.
Ionis slashes Tryngolza’s price ahead of planned label expansion · Fierce Pharma
Thursday 26 March
Recordati said CVC Capital Partners had made a non-binding approach at €52 a share for a takeover that would delist the Italian drugmaker.
The price values Recordati at about €10.9bn and compares with a close of €46.28 on 25 March. The approach depends on due diligence and financing, and Recordati’s board has not yet assessed it.
Press release regarding market rumours of a possible tender offer by CVC · Recordati
Recordati, precisazioni su rumor di mercato · SoldiOnline
Kodiak Sciences’ tarcocimab beat sham injections in a second phase 3 trial in diabetic retinopathy.
In GLOW2, 62.5% of treated patients improved by at least two steps on the retinopathy severity scale at week 48, against 3.3% on sham, with all patients on six-monthly dosing by the end. Kodiak intends to accelerate its US filing.
Kodiak Sciences announces positive topline results in GLOW2 · Kodiak Sciences
Wave Life Sciences’ shares fell by more than half after its obesity drug WVE-007 produced 0.9% placebo-adjusted weight loss at six months.
A single 240 mg dose of the siRNA cut visceral fat by 14% against placebo while lean mass held steady. The 32 people in the phase 1 cohort had an average BMI of 32. Wave called the data positive. The shares fell 55% in the first hour of trading.
Wave announces positive interim phase 1 data from INLIGHT · Wave Life Sciences
Wave crashes after obesity trial tracks 1% dip in body weight · Fierce Biotech
The FDA approved Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy Kresladi for severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD-1).
The FDA rejected it in 2024 over manufacturing problems. It is approved for children without a matched sibling stem cell donor. Rocket estimates about 25 new cases/year.
FDA approves first gene therapy for leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I · FDA
Rocket gene therapy Kresladi approved for rare immune disorder · STAT
Friday 27 March
AstraZeneca’s tozorakimab cut COPD flare-ups in two phase 3 trials.
Tozorakimab, an antibody against interleukin-33 (IL-33), reduced the annual rate of moderate-to-severe exacerbations against placebo in the OBERON and TITANIA trials. The effect held in former smokers, the primary population, and in the overall population including current smokers, across eosinophil counts and lung function.
AstraZeneca says it is the first IL-33 drug to succeed in two replicate phase 3 trials. Patients received 300 mg every four weeks on top of inhaled treatment. Full data will come at a medical meeting, and two more phase 3 COPD trials are running.
Tozorakimab met primary endpoint in OBERON and TITANIA trials · AstraZeneca
Novartis agreed to buy allergy biotech Excellergy for up to $2bn in upfront and milestone payments.
Excellergy’s Exl-111, a long-acting anti-IgE antibody, entered the phase 1 DISARM trial in February. Novartis sees uses in food allergy, chronic urticaria and allergic asthma, and expects to close in H2 2026.
Novartis agrees to acquire Excellergy · Novartis
Excellergy to be acquired by Novartis for up to USD 2 billion · Excellergy
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