Recent Funding:
BridgeBio Pharma (SF) Raises $1 Billion in Preferred Equity Ahead of Three Drug Launches
BridgeBio closed a $1B convertible preferred equity deal led by Sixth Street ($800M) and KKR’s HealthCare Royalty ($133.9M), carrying a 7% initial dividend and a conversion price of $137.79/share — more than 100% premium to its 30-day VWAP — to fund three upcoming launches within the next 18 months.
The three pipeline assets are BBP-418 for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I/R9, encaleret for autosomal dominant hypocalcemia type 1, and infigratinib for achondroplasia, adding to the already-commercial Attruby (acoramidis) for ATTR cardiomyopathy.
Recent Layoffs:
Genentech (SF) Cuts 103 Roles in gRED Restructuring
Genentech confirmed 103 positions across several areas will be eliminated, including changes to its Genentech Research and Early Development (gRED) group — a restructuring first signaled in June when three VPs were publicly axed — as well as cuts in other parts of the organization.
The layoffs are the latest in a series of Roche-driven workforce reductions at Genentech, which shed at least 489 employees in 2025 and 436 in a 2024 global manufacturing reshuffle; the company emphasized it continues to hire in areas critical to its pipeline.
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Genentech (SF) Signs $490M Breast Cancer Drug Discovery Deal with Astex Pharmaceuticals
Genentech paid $25M upfront to UK-based Astex Pharmaceuticals for an exclusive license to compounds from Astex’s breast cancer drug discovery program, with up to $490M in potential milestone payments plus tiered royalties — the deal leverages Astex’s fragment-based drug discovery platform, which previously contributed to the development of Novartis’s blockbuster Kisqali.
Genentech will take ownership of the programs after a joint optimization phase aimed at identifying preclinical candidates targeting cell-cycle regulators in breast cancer; Astex has previously attracted Big Pharma partners including Merck, AstraZeneca, and Janssen.
IPOs:
Scribe Therapeutics (SF) Files S-1 for Nasdaq IPO to Fund CRISPR Epigenetic Silencing Pipeline
Scribe Therapeutics — co-founded by Nobel Prize laureate Jennifer Doudna and developing CasX-based in vivo CRISPR therapies — filed for a Nasdaq IPO (ticker: SCTX) with a $75M placeholder, testing public appetite for earlier-stage gene editing biotechs. The company is backed by Sanofi and Eli Lilly and has received CIRM grant funding for two programs.
Lead candidate STX-1150 is a CRISPR epigenetic silencer targeting PCSK9 for durable LDL-C reduction without permanent DNA changes; it is in a Phase 1 trial in Australia (TGA-cleared), with initial data expected in H1 2027. Follow-ons STX-1200 (Lp(a)) and STX-1400 (triglycerides) are slated for Phase 1 in 2027 and 2028.
FDA Approvals:
Orca Bio (SF) Wins FDA Approval for TREGZI, the First-Ever Regulatory T Cell Therapy
The FDA approved TREGZI (allogeneic regulatory T cell-based immunotherapy with HSPC and T cells-vldq), branded from Orca-T, making it the first FDA-approved therapy built on regulatory T cells (Tregs); it is indicated to improve chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-free survival in adults with hematologic malignancies undergoing matched-donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Orca Bio priced TREGZI at a WAC of $428,000; CEO Nate Fernhoff has signaled a potential IPO following the approval. The therapy addresses a major unmet need — chronic GVHD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplant.
Other Interesting News:
Revolution Medicines (SF) KRAS Drug Combination Data Supports Phase 3 in Pancreatic Cancer
Revolution Medicines presented Phase 1/2 data at ESMO GI for the combination of zoldonrasib (RAS G12D-selective KRAS(ON) inhibitor) and daraxonrasib in patients with RAS G12D metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, with the results supporting the company’s decision to advance a Phase 3 trial of the combination regimen.
The data were presented as the KRAS field grows increasingly competitive — Roche’s KRAS G12C inhibitor divarasib also reported a head-to-head Phase 3 win over rivals this week — underscoring Revolution’s bet on the harder-to-drug G12D mutation, which is more prevalent in pancreatic cancer than G12C.
92Bio (SF) Reclaims Amgen-Discarded T Cell Engager, Doses First Phase 1 Patient in Ovarian Cancer
92Bio, a California bispecific antibody startup, retrieved a FOLR1xCD3 T cell engager — NTB-928 — that it originally developed and then transferred to Amgen, which subsequently discontinued it; the company has now dosed the first patient in a Phase 1 trial for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
The asset is engineered for tumor selectivity by targeting FOLR1, which is highly expressed on ovarian cancer cells but limited on normal tissue — a key design goal to reduce the on-target/off-tumor toxicity that has hampered earlier T cell engagers in solid tumors.
Angitia terminated the Phase 3 trial of AGA111, a recombinant human BMP-6 protein for spinal fusion surgery, citing reasons other than safety; the decision comes just four months after closing a $130M fundraise and follows a $120M Series C in 2024 — neither of which prominently featured AGA111.
The company will refocus on AGA2118 and AGA2115, both Phase 2-stage bispecific antibodies co-targeting sclerostin and DKK1 for osteoporosis and osteogenesis imperfecta, respectively; CEO Hua Zhu Ke helped develop Amgen’s sclerostin-targeting Evenity during an eight-year stint there.
Vistagen Therapeutics (South SF) Fails Second Phase 3 in Social Anxiety; Stock Falls 70%
Fasedienol (intranasal) missed the primary endpoint in PALISADE-4 — a 238-patient public speaking challenge trial in social anxiety disorder — across all three doses versus placebo, its second consecutive Phase 3 failure following PALISADE-3 in December 2025; shares fell 70% to $0.23 in premarket trading.
Vistagen is pursuing a regulatory lifeline via a post hoc analysis in 123 patients with very severe SAD, which showed a nominally significant SUDS reduction (fasedienol: -12.8 vs. placebo: -3.7); the company plans to discuss with FDA a single multidose outpatient Phase 3 trial as a new path to approval, with cash runway extending into 2027.
