Recent Funding:
Artiva’s off-the-shelf NK cell therapy AlloNK plus rituximab achieved a 71% ACR50 response (meaningful symptom improvement) in refractory rheumatoid arthritis patients at six months—dramatically outperforming the 11-19% response rate seen with current therapies in this difficult-to-treat population of 150,000-200,000 U.S. patients who’ve failed two or more prior treatments
The FDA cleared Artiva to run a single Phase 3 trial enrolling ~150 patients (starting H2 2026, data expected H2 2028) with no cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, or treatment discontinuations observed—the company raised $300 million from investors including RA Capital, Viking Global, Samsara BioCapital, and EcoR1 Capital to fund the registrational trial and potential 2029 BLA submission
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (LA) Licenses MASH Drug to Madrigal in $1 Billion Deal
Arrowhead is receiving $25 million upfront plus up to $975 million in milestones from Madrigal for ARO-PNPLA3, an RNAi drug that showed up to 46% liver fat reduction after one dose in Phase 1—the drug targets patients with a specific genetic mutation linked to fatty liver disease progression
Johnson & Johnson originally partnered with Arrowhead on the drug but handed it back in 2023 after exiting the MASH space; Madrigal now plans to test it in combination with their approved drug Rezdiffra, which pulled in $958 million in 2025 sales
Perfuse Therapeutics (SF) Acquired by Bayer for Up to $2.45 Billion
Bayer is paying $300 million upfront plus up to $2.15 billion in milestones for Perfuse’s PER-001, an implant that slowly releases drug to treat glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy—two leading causes of blindness affecting a combined 226 million people worldwide
In Phase 2a trials, 37.5% of glaucoma patients on the high dose saw significant vision improvement at six months (versus 0% in controls), and diabetic retinopathy patients improved while control patients worsened—Bayer is moving the drug into Phase 2b/3 trials
Other Interesting News:
Cytokinetics (SF) Hits Phase 3 Goals for Heart Muscle Drug, Opening New $1+ Billion Market
Cytokinetics’ pill Myqorzo met both primary endpoints in Phase 3 for non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (nHCM), showing a 3-point improvement over placebo in symptom scores and 0.67 ml/kg/min improvement in exercise capacity—potentially doubling the drug’s addressable market after approval in the obstructive form late last year
The results outperformed Bristol Myers Squibb’s Camzyos, which failed its nHCM trial with smaller improvements that didn’t reach statistical significance, though 10% of Myqorzo patients saw reduced heart pumping function (versus 21.5% on Camzyos)—analysts expect peak nHCM sales of $1.2 billion at the drug’s $108,400 annual list price
Braveheart Bio (SF) Reports Positive Phase 2 Data for Heart Muscle Disease Drug
Braveheart’s pill BHB-1893 (licensed from China’s Hengrui Pharma for $65 million upfront) showed a 5.5-point improvement in symptom scores versus placebo in 84 patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy—outperforming Cytokinetics’ recently approved drug Myqorzo, which showed a 3-point improvement in its Phase 3 trial
52% of high-dose patients saw at least a 20-point improvement in symptoms (shortness of breath, fatigue, ability to exercise) compared to 21% on placebo, with no severe side effects causing patients to stop treatment—Braveheart is planning a global Phase 3 trial
Inhibrx’s experimental drug INBRX-106 combined with Merck’s Keytruda shrank tumors in 44% of previously untreated head and neck cancer patients versus 21% on Keytruda alone—marking one of the first add-on therapies to show clear differentiation from Keytruda, the leader of a $50+ billion drug category
The combo produced three complete responses (tumors disappeared entirely) while Keytruda alone produced zero, with side effects mostly mild (rash, diarrhea, fatigue)—Inhibrx plans to launch lung cancer trials this year and next, with survival data expected Q4 2026
