Recent Funding:
Protuoso Biosciences (SF) Raises $9.5M Seed to Advance MUXBODY Biologics Platform
The oversubscribed seed round — led by Taya Venture and Darwin Ventures with NSG Ventures, SEEDS, and others — will fund Protuoso’s modular MUXBODY fusion-protein platform, designed to engineer multi-specific biologics for cardiometabolic, oncology, and autoimmune indications.
The company operates a therapeutic-agnostic hub-and-spoke model, building the platform centrally while advancing indication-specific assets through early business development engagement on each spoke — making it a notable platform play to watch at the seed stage.
Recent Layoffs:
Gilead Sciences (SF) Cuts 51 Roles at HQ in Latest Restructuring
Gilead is laying off 51 employees at its headquarters effective May 29, 2026, according to a WARN Act notice, marking the second round of headcount reductions in roughly seven months at the antiviral and oncology giant.
The Foster City cuts come on top of 192 jobs Gilead is eliminating at the Arcellx CAR-T unit in Redwood City and Rockville, MD, following the recently closed $7.8B acquisition — signaling continued pipeline rationalization across the combined oncology portfolio
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Vaccine Company (SF) to Be Acquired by Eli Lilly for Up to $1.5B in Triple Vaccine Deal
Vaccine Company is being acquired by Eli Lilly for up to $1.5B (upfront plus milestones) — one of three simultaneous infectious-disease acquisitions Lilly announced May 26 (Curevo and LimmaTech are the others) totaling up to $3.8B.
Vaccine Company’s in vivo nanoparticle platform is designed to bypass complex bioreactor manufacturing by enabling endogenous antigen production — a potentially low-cost, rapidly scalable approach Lilly will plug into its new infectious-disease franchise alongside 9 other M&A targets it has bought in 2026.
IPOs:
Kardigan (SF) Readies Nasdaq IPO to Back Three Cardio Drugs
The cardiovascular drug developer — founded by ex-MyoKardia executives — filed its S-1 on May 26, 2026, planning to list under ticker KARD and fund late-stage clinical work on danicamtiv (genetic DCM), ataciguat (calcific aortic valve stenosis), and tonlamarsen (acute severe hypertension).
Kardigan had raised nearly $570M as of March 31, 2026, including a $254M ARCHbacked Series B in October 2025, positioning it as one of the most-watched cardio biotech IPOs of the year and the 13th biotech to test public markets in 2026.
Avenzo Therapeutics (SD) to Go Public via Reverse Merger with Rallybio
Avenzo, led by CEO Athena Countouriotis and one of the first biotechs to attract major Western VC backing for in-licensed Chinese assets, will take Rallybio’s Nasdaq listing in a reverse merger announced June 1 — providing a backdoor public debut after Candid Therapeutics walked away from a prior Rallybio deal.
The transaction is notable both as a creative path-to-public for a privately-funded oncology biotech and as another data point on the durability of the China-licensing model amid Biosecure Act uncertainty
Other Interesting News:
In the pivotal Phase 3 RASolute 302 trial, oral RAS(ON) inhibitor daraxonrasib doubled median overall survival to 13.2 months versus 6.6 months for chemotherapy in previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer — results presented in the May 31 ASCO plenary and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine, with all primary and key secondary endpoints met.
Ahead of the plenary, Revolution opened an FDA-authorized expanded access program on May 30 to deliver daraxonrasib to previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer patients while it prepares a BLA — positioning the company as the leading independent player in pan-RAS biology ahead of competitors from Roche, Boehringer, and Merck.
Kelonia Therapeutics (SF) Reports 100% Response Rate for In Vivo CAR-T at ASCO
Updated Phase 1 inMMyCAR data presented May 31 showed all 18 relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients dosed with KLN-1010 — a lentiviral in vivo BCMA CAR-T — responded to treatment, with no detectable cancer in the bone marrow one month postdosing.
The data continue to justify Eli Lilly’s pending $3.25B upfront acquisition (up to $7B total) announced in April 2026, and reinforce in vivo cell therapy as one of the most aggressively pursued modalities of the year.
Jade Biosciences (SF) Reports Best-in-Class Phase 1 Data for JADE101 in IgA Nephropathy
A single dose of the anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody drove approximately 70% IgA reductions sustained at 12 weeks in healthy volunteers — a faster, deeper, and more durable effect than first-generation anti-APRIL or dual APRIL/BAFF agents, with potency estimated at ~379x sibeprenlimab and ~26x povetacicept.
The data support a potential Q12W maintenance regimen (just four injections per year), Phase 2 is already enrolling, and a Phase 3 registrational study is planned for 1H 2027 — putting Jade in direct competition with Otsuka/Visterra, Vertex, and Biogen in a fastmoving IgAN landscape.
Turn Therapeutics (LA) Eczema Drug Hits EASI-50 in 93% of Patients at Four Weeks
Topical small molecule GX-03 delivered EASI-50 in 93% of atopic dermatitis patients by week 4 in mid-stage data shared June 1 — a notably fast response window for a nonsteroidal topical.
The pace of the response could differentiate GX-03 in a crowded atopic dermatitis category now dominated by injectable biologics, and positions Turn for likely partnership or licensing conversations heading into the Phase 3 design discussion.
Kura Oncology (SD) Reports Krazati-Combo Data With Up to 69% Response Rate at ASCO
First-in-human Phase 1a data for darlifarnib — a farnesyl transferase inhibitor designed to overcome mTORC1-driven resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors — combined with BMS’s Krazati produced partial responses in 4 of 6 KRAS-inhibitor-naive pancreatic cancer patients (67%) and 3 of 6 NSCLC patients (50%).
CEO Troy Wilson called it Kura’s third successful combination readout (after VEGFR-TKI and PI3Kα combos), positioning darlifarnib as a potential pipeline-in-a-product resistance breaker — a credible foil to the broader RAS narrative dominated this week by Revolution Medicines
Gilead Sciences (SF) Scraps Lead BTLA Agonist from $405M MiroBio Buyout
Gilead is discontinuing development of GS-0272, the BTLA agonist that anchored its 2022 $405M acquisition of UK-based MiroBio — citing ‘available data’ and a pipeline review focused on programs with the greatest patient benefit.
The shelving joins recent BTLA failures from Eli Lilly (venanprubart, lupus Phase 2 flop) and AnaptysBio (eczema 2024 scrap) — likely closing a multi-year inflammation thesis, though Gilead’s PD-1 agonist GS-0151 from the same deal remains in a rheumatoid arthritis Phase 1.
Jasper Therapeutics (SF) Opens Strategic Review, Including Possible Wind-Down
Jasper’s board announced on June 1 a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives for the briquilimab mast-cell platform — explicitly including asset sale, licensing, merger, a sale of the company, or an orderly wind-down of operations.
With no defined timeline, the review signals continued cash pressure on small-cap public biotechs lacking near-term commercial catalysts — and could create asset-acquisition opportunities for BD teams targeting mast-cell-driven indications like chronic urticaria and asthma.
