Recent Funding:
Saturnus Bio (SF) Launches with $50 Million from Merck KGaA in Built-to-Buy Deal
Versant Ventures has launched Saturnus Bio with $50 million from Merck KGaA to develop gene-targeted treatments for rare inherited heart muscle diseases — conditions that can cause heart failure and sudden death and currently have no approved therapies addressing their genetic root causes.
The deal is structured as a deliberate build-to-buy arrangement, with Merck holding the exclusive option to acquire Saturnus outright if the company succeeds — making this less of a traditional partnership and more of an outsourced R&D bet with a predetermined exit path.
Osanni Bio (SF) Emerges from Stealth with $190 Million Series B
Osanni Bio, a Bay Area biotech that has operated quietly for three years, has raised $190 million to advance seven drug programs across eye disease, cardiology, and cancer — with its lead dry AMD treatment having already completed an early-stage trial outside the US.
The company plans to spin each asset out into its own separate company as programs mature, a hub-and-spoke model built by a serial entrepreneur behind four previous successful biotech ventures including two acquisitions.
Lycia Therapeutics (SSF) Raises $75M Series D for Protein Degradation Platform
Lycia closed an oversubscribed $75M Series D co-led by Janus Henderson Investors and Balyasny Asset Management, with participation from Eli Lilly, OrbiMed, RTW Investments, Invus, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
Proceeds will advance two lead cataLYTAC candidates—LCA-0061 (food allergy) and LCA-0321 (Graves’ disease)—into Phase 1 clinical proof-of-concept, with new CFO Amy Bachrodt joining to support the next phase of growth.
Co-founded by former Allergan and AbbVie dealmaker Brent Saunders, Rapalogix has raised $20 million to commercially expand its Re-Q skincare line — built around a cellular aging pathway called mTOR — while laying the groundwork for a prescription-grade version of the technology that is roughly 10 times more potent than the consumer product.
The company plans to file for its first clinical trial in 2028, targeting skin conditions like photoaging and rosacea, with a scientific approach focused on resetting aging cells at the biological level rather than simply treating visible symptoms.
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (SD) Licenses Rare Brain Disease Drug Rights to Recordati for $30 Million
Ionis has licensed international rights to zilganersen — a drug awaiting FDA approval in September for Alexander disease, a rare neurological disorder affecting only around 300 people in the US — to Italian pharma Recordati for $30 million upfront plus royalties of up to mid-20%, while retaining full US commercial rights for what would be its first wholly owned neurology launch.
The deal lets Ionis focus its commercial resources on the US market while offloading the complexity of country-by-country international launches to a partner with established rare disease infrastructure in Europe.
Kartos Therapeutics (Redwood City) Acquired by Ipsen for $450M Upfront
Ipsen agreed to pay $450M upfront—with up to $1.3B in milestone payments for a potential total of $1.75B—for Kartos and its MDM2 inhibitor navtemadlin, an investigational add-on therapy to ruxolitinib targeting myelofibrosis patients with suboptimal responses.
Navtemadlin’s Phase 3 POIESIS trial results are expected in 2027, with a potential launch as early as 2028; the deal is expected to close by end of Q3 2026.
Theravance Biopharma (SSF) Acquired by Zymeworks in $929M All-Cash Deal
Zymeworks will pay $17.00 per share in cash (22% premium to Theravance’s pre-CYPRESS-failure price) plus a CVR entitling Theravance shareholders to 80% of net proceeds from any future monetization of ampreloxetine over 10 years.
The deal is primarily driven by Theravance’s partial rights to COPD drug Yupelri and royalty streams from the GSK-partnered Trelegy; Zymeworks will finance the transaction partly with $350M borrowed from Omers Life Sciences, to be repaid from Yupelri cash flows.
Serapha Bio / Boundless Bio (SD) Go Public via Reverse Merger with $230M PIPE
Boundless Bio (Nasdaq: BOLD) is providing its public listing to Serapha Bio, which simultaneously raised $230M co-led by RTW Investments and RA Capital to fund SERP-01, a base-editing gene therapy for severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) licensed from Shanghai-based YolTech Therapeutics.
Early proof-of-concept data for SERP-01 demonstrated restoration of serum AAT to normal levels; the combined company will trade under the ticker AATD on Nasdaq following expected Q4 2026 close.
FDA Approvals:
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Carlsbad) Wins FDA Approval of TRYNGOLZA for Severe Hypertriglyceridemia
The FDA approved TRYNGOLZA (olezarsen), Ionis’s antisense RNA therapy, as an adjunct to diet for adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia (TG ≥ 500 mg/dL)—a far larger commercial opportunity than its prior familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) indication, with peak U.S. sales projected to exceed $3B.
In the Phase 3 CORE and CORE2 studies, olezarsen delivered a placebo-adjusted 72% reduction in triglyceride levels and an 85% reduction in acute pancreatitis events, with favorable safety and tolerability.
Other Interesting News:
Sangamo Therapeutics (SF) Files for Bankruptcy, Sells Key Assets to Lilly and Astellas
Sangamo Therapeutics, a pioneering genomic medicine company whose stock has fallen 99% over the past five years, has filed for bankruptcy and is laying off 40% of its workforce — with Eli Lilly set to acquire its gene editing and delivery platforms and Astellas picking up its Fabry disease gene therapy asset.
The collapse marks a painful end for a company that was once considered a trailblazer in gene editing, having burned through years of high-profile pharma partnerships without ever bringing a product to market.
iBio (SD) Enters Clinic with AI-Discovered Obesity Drug
iBio has dosed its first patient in a Phase 1 trial of IBIO-600, a long-acting myostatin antibody designed to preserve muscle mass during weight loss — potentially addressing one of the biggest concerns with current GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic — with dosing as infrequent as two to four times per year as a goal.
The small 24-person company, which pivoted from plant-based drug manufacturing to AI-powered antibody discovery after acquiring the RubrYc platform in 2022, is also advancing a second obesity candidate designed to help patients maintain weight loss after stopping GLP-1 therapy.
Epicrispr’s gene silencing therapy EPI-321 produced an average increase of 0.8 pounds of lean muscle in three patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy — a rare disease affecting 870,000 people globally that has no approved treatments and has seen multiple high-profile drug failures — marking the first time any therapy has ever shown clinical evidence of muscle growth in this condition.
The results came from a single IV infusion with no serious side effects reported, and the company is continuing to dose patients across additional cohorts, putting Epicrispr ahead of rivals including Novartis and Sarepta in the race to bring the first approved FSHD treatment to market.
Evommune (SF) Suffers Phase 2b Setback in Chronic Hives Trial, Stock Falls 35%
Evommune’s oral drug EVO756 failed to outperform placebo across all three doses in a 160-patient trial for chronic spontaneous urticaria — a condition characterized by persistent hives — sending the stock down 35% and eliminating what would have been a potential competitor to Novartis’s recently approved drug in the same market.
The company is pressing forward with two remaining trials of EVO756 in atopic dermatitis and migraine prevention, though analysts warn confidence in the drug is now significantly diminished following the hives failure.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical (SD) and Gilead Sciences (Foster City) Antivirals Deployed in DRC Ebola Trial
WHO announced it will deploy Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s MBP134 antibody cocktail and Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir in a supervised clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid the ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak, which has caused 1,094 confirmed cases and 277 deaths.
The trial was set to begin the week of June 24; Gilead is donating remdesivir doses. Both California-based companies’s products had previously shown activity against Bundibugyo ebolavirus in preclinical and prior outbreak data.
