Financing

Zenas BioPharma plans to have data from four trials – two under way and two starting this summer – for obexelimab, which targets CD19 and FcγRIIb, within about a year and a half.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: Japan’s Ono buys US oncology firm; strong growth but supply issues for Lilly; Novo and Lilly make their money work; BMS cuts jobs, costs; and Big Pharma’s support for bioventures.

The two heavyweights have joined forces with fellow major charitable foundation Wellcome and committed $300m to "accelerate global health equity and impact."

BridgeBio will narrow its focus to rare diseases and the November action date for acoramidis, while subsidiary TheRas will become BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, focused on KRAS-targeted drugs.

Private Company Edition: First quarter data again confirm fewer but larger VC rounds in Q1. Big Q2 rounds include a $132.5m series C round for Endeavor Biomedicines, a $103m series A round for Reunion Neuroscience and Enlaza’s $100m series A.

The attraction of listing in the US for innovative companies is clear but the heads of the Swiss Biotech Association tell Scrip that start-ups should remember the advantages of playing at home and not waste too much energy and time on worrying about being on the NASDAQ.

C-suite leaders from Lilly, Roche and J&J spoke at a Citeline-sponsored panel at Swiss Biotech Day in Basel and offered encouragement to start-ups trying to negotiate the tricky financial landscape.

A material shift in China derisking discussions by big biopharma against the backdrop of the proposed US BIOSECURE Bill is seen presenting opportunities for Syngene, though the tight US biotech funding environment dampened demand for the Indian CRDMO’s R&D services in Q4.

Restructuring Edition: Even big pharma companies are not immune from workforce reductions. BMS and Sanofi joined that ranks of Evotec, CureVac and BenevolentAI in cutting jobs. Also, Vaxxinity will de-list and Hepion winds down its NASH trial, among other strategic updates.

Ono’s just-announced purchase of Deciphera has put the tenosynovial giant cell tumor space under the spotlight and SynOx is making strides to stay at the head of the pack helped by significant financing.

Public Company Edition: Cullinan and Cidara shifted their strategic directions and found investors to bring along for the ride. Also, Intra-Cellular closed a post-Phase III $575m follow-on offering and Tarsus accessed up to $200m from Pharmakon.

ARCH and Foresite incubated the company and recruited Genentech R&D veteran Marc Tessier-Lavigne to keep data generation, machine learning research and drug development under one roof.