Recent Funding:
Crystalys Therapeutics (SD) Raises Oversubscribed $130M Series B for De-Risked Gout Therapy
The round, led by Frazier Life Sciences, Wellington Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Soleus Capital, Cormorant Asset Management and others, brings Crystalys’s total raised to $335M. Proceeds advance dotinurad, a once-daily oral URAT1 inhibitor for gout, through global Phase 3 development and toward commercialization.
Recent Layoffs:
Amgen (LA) Sheds Around 40 Staffers as Tavneos and Pipeline Struggles
The cuts affect about 0.1% of Amgen’s global workforce and come as the company fights a July 29 FDA hearing deadline to keep Tavneos on the market after a proposed withdrawal over liver injury cases. The layoffs follow a string of recent pipeline setbacks, including scrapped Sjogren’s and ulcerative colitis candidates and the terminated Kyowa Kirin rocatinlimab collaboration.
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Gossamer Bio (SD) and Chiesi (Italy) End PAH Drug Collaboration After Missed Phase 3 Endpoint
Gossamer regains worldwide rights to seralutinib after ending its up-to-$486M collaboration with Chiesi, despite the pulmonary arterial hypertension candidate missing its prespecified Phase 3 statistical threshold in February. Encouraged by a pre-NDA FDA meeting, Gossamer plans to file for approval in September, with a possible decision in Q3 2027; Chiesi keeps a capped royalty and milestone payments.
IPOs:
Scribe Therapeutics (SF) Prices Upsized $129M IPO, Stock Jumps 44% on Nasdaq Debut
The gene-editing biotech priced 8.58M shares at $15 (top of range) for gross proceeds of $128.7M, plus a concurrent 500K-share private placement to longtime partner Sanofi; shares began trading July 24 under ticker SCTX and closed up 44% on day one. Proceeds fund continued clinical development of PCSK9 gene-silencer STX-1150 and Scribe’s broader CRISPR pipeline.
Axiom Biosciences (SD) Plans to Become First US Biotech to List Primarily on Hong Kong Exchange
Fresh off positive Phase 1 stem cell data in newborn brain injury, Axiom intends to list on the HKEX first, followed by a Nasdaq co-listing a few years later, citing its international investor base and Asia-based partner Medinno. The Hong Kong IPO is expected in 2027 pending regulatory review; CEO Remo Moomiaie-Qajar says the strategy could open a path other U.S. biotechs might follow.
Other Interesting News:
MapLight Therapeutics (SF) Shares Sink 60% on Mixed Phase 2 Schizophrenia Readout
ML-007C-MA hit its primary endpoint on a twice-daily dose (4.5-point PANSS reduction vs. placebo) but missed on a once-daily dose, in a 307-patient trial aimed at challenging BMS’s Cobenfy in schizophrenia. MapLight also flagged a cognitive-impairment benefit independent of psychosis improvement, which the company says bodes well for its ongoing Alzheimer’s-disease-psychosis trial of the same drug.
