Recent Funding:
R1 Therapeutics launched with $77.5 million to develop AP306, a once-daily pill for hyperphosphatemia (high phosphate levels) in chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis. Unlike existing treatments that require patients to take 3-5 pills per meal (up to 15 daily), AP306 blocks phosphate absorption in the gut with just one tablet three times a day, addressing a major adherence problem. R1 licensed the drug from Shanghai-based Alebund Pharmaceuticals (originally discovered by Roche’s Chugai) and plans to complete a Phase 2b trial by late 2027, then raise a Series B for Phase 3. The company aims to stay private through approval and launch by decade’s end—a rarity in biotech—taking advantage of the concentrated dialysis industry that doesn’t require massive commercial infrastructure.
Recent Layoffs:
Gossamer Bio (SD) Cuts 48% of Workforce After Phase 3 Pulmonary Hypertension Drug Fails
Gossamer Bio is slashing 77 positions (48% of its workforce) after its Phase 3 trial of seralutinib in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) missed its primary endpoint. The company is now evaluating strategic options and conserving cash following the clinical failure.
M&A, Deals, Partnerships:
Kali Therapeutics (CA) Scores $180M Upfront from Sanofi in $1.05B T-Cell Engager Deal
Kali Therapeutics secured $180 million upfront (plus up to $1.05 billion in milestones) from Sanofi for KT501, a trispecific T-cell engager targeting CD19, BCMA, and CD3 for rheumatoid arthritis. The startup just began dosing patients in a Phase 1a trial in Australia and plans to bring two more T-cell engagers into the clinic this year for autoimmune and blood cancer indications. Kali’s CEO Weihao Xu turned down $150 million from investors to license Chinese T-cell engagers, choosing instead to build an in-house pipeline with a small team backed by LYFE Capital. The deal marks Sanofi’s return to T-cell engagers after acquiring Amunix for $1 billion in 2021, then selling those assets to Vir in 2024. T-cell engagers are positioned as easier-to-use alternatives to cell therapies, with potential to treat both cancers and autoimmune diseases.
Roche Expands Nvidia (SF) Partnership to Build “Largest” Biopharma AI Supercomputer, Eclipsing Lilly
Roche announced plans to build what it calls the “largest announced hybrid-cloud AI factory” in biopharma, adding 2,716 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to bring its total capacity to over 3,500 chips—more than triple Eli Lilly’s recently unveiled supercomputer (1,016 Blackwell chips). The expanded partnership covers Roche’s drugs and diagnostics businesses across discovery, manufacturing, and sales. Genentech’s research chief Aviv Regev, who joined in 2020 to remake R&D with AI, has built a 600-person computational science team implementing a “lab-in-the-loop” methodology where scientists perform virtual work before testing molecules in the lab. Roche will operate two data center locations (US and Europe), though financial details and exact timelines weren’t disclosed beyond “quick.”
Other Interesting News:
Xaira Therapeutics, led by former Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, revealed its X-Cell AI model trained on 25.6 million individual cells to predict gene function and identify unknown drug targets. The company is using the model to design antibody therapeutics for inflammatory and immunological diseases, focusing on targets “everybody agrees would be compelling to test in humans, but nobody’s been able to crack.” Xaira’s AI model can predict what genes do in cell types it hasn’t been trained on and has already identified unknown proteins involved in T cell activation—opening potential new drug targets. COO Jeff Jonker, who joined from Genentech, said the company is building a “completely integrated R&D platform based on machine learning” and plans to make some of the model and data available to other scientists. The company raised $1 billion in 2024 from investors betting on AI-driven drug discovery.
Aspen Neuroscience reported all 8 Parkinson’s patients treated with its autologous stem cell therapy sasineprocel showed clinically significant improvements after one year, including over 2 hours of additional daily “good on” time (symptom control) and reduced need for levodopa medication. The therapy converts patients’ skin cells into stem cells, then into dopamine-producing neurons that are implanted in the brain. Brain imaging confirmed the cells successfully engrafted and remained alive one year post-surgery. Aspen plans to start a Phase 3 trial later this year after FDA discussions, likely following a similar sham-controlled design to Bayer’s BlueRock Therapeutics’ competing donor-derived therapy. CEO Damien McDevitt said before-and-after videos of one patient were “night and day,” with many at the company becoming emotional watching the transformation. Aspen raised $115 million Series C in November (including Gilead’s Kite Pharma) and plans to commercialize the therapy itself if approved.
Fauna Bio identified a novel obesity target using its Convergence AI platform, which analyzed genomic data from over 450 mammal species including 60+ hibernators that naturally regulate body weight and metabolism during seasonal weight cycling. The discovery triggered a milestone payment from Eli Lilly under their 2023 partnership worth up to $494 million in biobucks (milestone amount not disclosed). Fauna’s approach leverages “hibernation biology” to find targets that traditional drug discovery has missed, studying how animals like ground squirrels, bats, tenrecs, and spiny mice achieve dramatic, healthy weight cycling and reversible insulin resistance. The company’s biobank includes 22 tissue types from hibernating ground squirrels alone. CEO Ashley Zehnder said the target “represents a potential first-in-class approach” and validates the platform’s ability to uncover novel metabolic disease biology.
Genentech (SF) Halts Phase 2 Trial and Dumps RIPK1 Inhibitor After Futility Analysis
Genentech stopped its Phase 2 trial of flizasertib (GDC-8264), a RIPK1 inhibitor for preventing acute kidney injury after heart surgery, after interim data showed the drug was unlikely to meet its primary endpoint. The trial had enrolled 67 patients before termination in Q1 2026, and the asset has been removed from Genentech’s pipeline. The failure adds to a string of setbacks for the RIPK1 inhibitor class, which aims to regulate inflammation and cell death but has yet to produce an approved medicine despite pursuit by multiple Big Pharmas. GSK dropped two RIPK1 candidates, Sanofi scrapped its last Denali-partnered asset in January after multiple Phase 2 failures, and Lilly walked away from the CNS portion of its $960 million Rigel deal (though one candidate remains in Phase 2 for rheumatoid arthritis).
Gilead Sciences declined to exercise its option on Assembly Biosciences’ hepatitis B capsid assembly modulator ABI-4334, returning full rights to after a Phase 1b trial in 2024. Assembly is now seeking a new partner for the asset, which was part of a 2023 opt-in deal where Gilead paid $100 million upfront for rights to all current and future Assembly programs over 12 years. Gilead did license two of Assembly’s recurrent genital herpes treatments for $35 million in December, but clearly lost interest in the HBV candidate. The decision reduces Assembly’s potential milestone payments from the original agreement by $330 million. Gilead still has another HBV bet through its Hookipa Pharma partnership (HB-400 arenavirus vaccine in Phase 1a/1b) and already markets Vemlidy for chronic HBV, which generated $1.07 billion in 2025 sales.
Genentech (SF) Halts Muscle Disease Programs After Antibody Fails to Boost Muscle Growth
Genentech discontinued development of emugrobart, an anti-myostatin antibody, for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) after Phase 2/3 trials showed the drug “did not consistently deliver the hoped-for improvements in muscle growth and function.” The company plans to share full data at upcoming medical meetings. The failure raises concerns for emugrobart’s ongoing Phase 2 obesity trial (Gyminda), where it’s being combined with Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide to preserve muscle mass during weight loss. While the trial’s primary endpoint is total weight change, lean mass and muscle volume are secondary endpoints. Muscle loss is a major side effect of GLP-1 drugs, sparking an intense race among AstraZeneca, Wave Life Sciences, Roche, and others to develop obesity treatments that protect muscle while shedding fat.
Apogee Therapeutics (SF) Reports Phase 2 Eczema Data With Dosing Every 3-6 Months, Stock Jumps 16%
Apogee Therapeutics reported Phase 2 maintenance data showing 75% of eczema patients maintained their response with dosing once every 3 months, and 85% maintained response with dosing once every 6 months—far more convenient than Sanofi/Regeneron’s Dupixent (every 2-4 weeks) or Lilly’s Ebglyss (every 4 weeks). The results surpassed the company’s own benchmarks based on Dupixent’s data. Apogee’s anti-IL-13 antibody zumilokibart achieved nearly 70% of patients hitting a 75% improvement in disease severity at 16 weeks during the induction phase. The company plans to start Phase 3 later this year and expects a 2029 launch, with analysts projecting $1.4 billion in peak sales. Stock jumped 16% on the news.
