ALETH / LIFESCI-BRIEF / 2026-04-10 / GILEAD BUYS GERMAN ADC MAKER TUBULISThe Aleth Briefs link to the sources behind the stories and show how the week unfolded.
The week in five lines:
Gilead agreed to buy ADC developer Tubulis for $3.15bn upfront, up to $5bn in all.
Neurocrine agreed to buy Soleno for $2.9bn, gaining a Prader-Willi hunger drug.
Base editor CS-101 freed five thalassaemia patients from transfusions, in Nature.
Merck cut its Terns bid 13% after seeing its leukaemia data, a filing showed.
Amgen’s injected Tepezza beat placebo in a phase 3 thyroid eye disease trial.
Browse by day:
Weekend catch-up: Takeda-Denali · Syneron
Monday: Neurocrine-Soleno · Tepezza · Stipple · Praxis
Tuesday: Gilead-Tubulis · Sanofi · Insmed · Merck-Terns · Hologic
Wednesday: CS-101 · Jeito · Sidewinder · Life Bio · Waters · PhRMA · AbbVie
Thursday: Roche-C4 · Foundayo · Oxford BioTherapeutics
Weekend catch-up
Takeda decided to end its collaboration with Denali Therapeutics on DNL593, a progranulin replacement therapy for frontotemporal dementia.
Denali said on Friday that Takeda’s reasons were strategic and had nothing to do with efficacy or safety data. Denali will regain full control of the drug and expects phase 1/2 results by the end of 2026.
Denali regains full rights to DNL593 · Denali Therapeutics
China’s Syneron Bio closed a $150m Series B for its macrocyclic peptide drug discovery platform.
An unnamed international life sciences fund led the round, which closed on 31 March, with Decheng Capital and CDH VGC as co-leads. Existing shareholders include AstraZeneca.
Syneron Bio completes $150m Series B financing · Syneron Bio
Monday 6 April
Neurocrine Biosciences agreed to buy Soleno Therapeutics for $53 a share, about $2.9bn.
Neurocrine will pay cash through a tender offer, with no financing condition. It gets Vykat XR, Soleno’s first-in-class treatment for the constant hunger of Prader-Willi syndrome, and expects the deal to lift its revenue growth straight away in 2026.
Neurocrine to acquire Soleno Therapeutics · Soleno Therapeutics
Amgen’s injected Tepezza beat placebo in a phase 3 thyroid eye disease trial.
In patients with moderate-to-severe active thyroid eye disease, 76.7% of those given Tepezza (teprotumumab) through an on-body injector had a proptosis response at week 24, against 19.6% on placebo. Patients took 12 injections, one every two weeks. Amgen says the injected form’s efficacy is comparable to that of the infusion.
Positive phase 3 results for subcutaneous Tepezza · Amgen
Stipple Bio launched with a $100m Series A to take its lead antibody-drug conjugate, STP-100, into the clinic.
RA Capital, a16z Bio+Health and Nextech Invest co-led the round. STP-100 uses tumour-specific binders and is due to enter clinical studies in early 2027. The money should last into 2029.
Stipple Bio emerges from stealth with $100m Series A · Stipple Bio
Praxis Precision Medicines’ elsunersen cut seizures by 77% against placebo in children with SCN2A developmental and epileptic encephalopathy.
The result comes from Part A of the placebo-controlled phase 1/2 EMBRAVE trial, which randomised nine children whose seizures began early to elsunersen or a sham procedure for 24 weeks. There were no drug-related serious adverse events. Praxis is already running its EMBRAVE3 study.
Positive results from EMBRAVE Part A trial of elsunersen · Praxis Precision Medicines
Tuesday 7 April
Gilead agreed to buy German biotech Tubulis for $3.15bn upfront and up to $1.85bn in milestones.
Tubulis’ lead drug, TUB-040, is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) aimed at NaPi2b, in phase 1b/2 trials in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Gilead also gets TUB-030, an ADC targeting 5T4. The deal follows a two-year collaboration and is due to close in Q2 2026. Tubulis’ Munich site will become a hub for Gilead’s ADC research.
Gilead to acquire Tubulis adding potentially best-in-class ADC · Gilead Sciences
Sanofi’s TSLP/IL-13 bispecific lunsekimig met its goals in phase 2 trials in asthma and nasal polyps but missed its eczema primary endpoint.
The phase 2b AIRCULES trial succeeded in moderate-to-severe asthma and the phase 2a DUET trial in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. The exploratory phase 2b VELVET trial in atopic dermatitis missed its primary endpoint.
Lunsekimig met primary endpoints in phase 2 respiratory studies · Sanofi
Insmed dropped Brinsupri (brensocatib) in hidradenitis suppurativa after the drug failed a phase 2b trial.
In the CEDAR trial, abscess and nodule counts fell 45.5% and 40.3% on the 10 mg and 40 mg doses at week 16, against 57.1% on placebo. No new safety signals emerged.
Clinical update on phase 2b CEDAR study · Insmed
Merck cut its bid for Terns by 13% after seeing its leukaemia data, a filing showed.
Terns’ recommendation statement on Merck’s $6.7bn tender offer, filed with the SEC on Tuesday, sets out the talks. Merck proposed $61 a share in February, came back at $50 in March after reviewing data from Terns’ CARDINAL trial, and settled at $53. Endpoints News first reported the cut, which it put at about $1bn.
Terns Pharmaceuticals Schedule 14D-9 · SEC
Terns sold to Merck for 13% lower than initial offer · Endpoints News
Blackstone and TPG completed their take-private of Hologic, valued at up to $18.3bn.
Shareholders get $76 a share in cash plus a contingent value right worth up to $3, tied to Breast Health revenue goals. Former Baxter chief executive Joe Almeida took over from Steve MacMillan, who retired on completion after >12 years.
Blackstone and TPG complete acquisition of Hologic · Hologic
Hologic’s October 2025 announcement of the deal · SEC
Steve MacMillan to retire on close of go-private deal · SEC
Wednesday 8 April
Base-editing drug CS-101 freed all five treated beta thalassaemia patients from transfusions.
The trial, published in Nature on Wednesday, treated patients with transfusion-dependent disease. They stopped needing transfusions an average of 16 days after a single dose, and all have stayed transfusion-free for more than a year. ShanghaiTech University ran the investigator-initiated trial with developer CorrectSequence Therapeutics and two other Chinese partners.
Clinical application of base editing for treating β-thalassaemia · Nature
Landmark base-editing trial published in Nature · ShanghaiTech University
Jeito Capital closed its second fund at $1.2bn, nearly double its first.
Jeito calls Jeito II the largest raise by a fully independent European biopharma fund. Its first fund closed at $630m in 2021. Jeito II will back 15 to 20 clinical-stage companies, mainly in Europe, and lift its average investment to up to €150m.
Jeito Capital hits record $1.2bn close for Jeito II · Jeito Capital
San Diego-based Sidewinder Therapeutics raised a $137m Series B for bispecific antibody-drug conjugates.
Frazier Life Sciences and Novartis Venture Fund co-led the round, joined by founding investor OrbiMed. The lead programme should reach the clinic in 2027.
Sidewinder announces $137m Series B financing · Sidewinder Therapeutics
Life Biosciences raised an $80m Series D to fund a phase 1 trial of its epigenetic reprogramming therapy ER-100.
The trial covers open-angle glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy. The money lasts into H2 2027.
Life Biosciences secures $80m Series D financing · Life Biosciences
The FDA cleared Waters’ Onclarity HPV self-collection kit and approved its HPV assay for samples taken at home.
The assay includes extended genotyping. Waters says unscreened or under-screened people account for about 60% of cervical cancer cases.
FDA clearance of the Onclarity HPV self-collection kit · Waters
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) said chief executive Steve Ubl will step down at the end of the year.
Ubl has led the US drug industry’s lobby group since 2015. He will stay until the board, chaired by Merck & Co’s Rob Davis, appoints a successor.
Steve Ubl announces plans for leadership transition · PhRMA
AbbVie sued the US government to narrow who counts as a patient under the 340B drug discount programme.
AbbVie says the programme’s 1996 definition of a patient is outdated. Axios reported the suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, would limit eligible patients to those prescribed a medicine because of care at the provider in the past 12 months. AbbVie’s Jeffrey Colvin told Axios the aim is to curb “the proliferation of abuse in the 340B program”.
AbbVie moves to close loopholes in 340B program · AbbVie
AbbVie sues to narrow drug discount patient definition · Axios
Pulmonary fibrosis developer Avalyn Pharma filed for a Nasdaq initial public offering under the symbol AVLN.
The filing leaves the price range blank. Avalyn depends on two inhaled candidates, AP01 and AP02.
Avalyn Pharma Form S-1 · SEC
Thursday 9 April
Roche agreed to pay C4 Therapeutics $20m upfront to develop degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs) against two cancer targets.
C4 Therapeutics will design the degrader payloads and Roche will attach them to antibodies. C4 can earn >$1bn in milestones plus royalties, and Roche has an option on a third target. It is the pair’s third collaboration since 2016.
C4 Therapeutics expands partnership with Roche · C4 Therapeutics
Eli Lilly launched its obesity pill Foundayo (orforglipron) in the US.
It is available through LillyDirect and telehealth providers and is shipping to pharmacies. Self-pay prices start at $149 a month at the lowest dose, and eligible Medicare Part D patients may be able to pay $50 a month from 1 July.
Foundayo (orforglipron), Lilly’s oral GLP-1 pill, now available in the US · Eli Lilly
Oxford BioTherapeutics signed a multi-year deal with Bristol Myers Squibb to discover T-cell engagers for solid tumours.
The Oxford and San Jose-based company gets an upfront payment that includes research funding and can earn milestones and royalties. Terms were not disclosed.
Collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb on T-cell engagers · Oxford BioTherapeutics
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