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Roche Crashed the KRAS Duopoly With a Head-to-Head Trial Nobody Expected
For the first time ever, a Phase 3 trial directly compared a next-generation KRAS G12C inhibitor against both approved drugs in the class, and Roche's divarasib won. The KRASCENDO-1 trial showed statistically significant superiority over Amgen's Lumakras and BMS's Krazati on both progression-free survival and overall survival in previously treated lung cancer patients. Wall Street responded with a modest 3-4% bump in Roche shares, because analysts are already looking ahead to the bigger prize: KRASCENDO-2, which tests divarasib plus Keytruda in first-line treatment. That's where the real billions live.
Why it matters: This head-to-head win could reshape KRAS G12C treatment guidelines and redirect billions in market share, while setting up Roche's first-line combination trial as the most consequential readout in lung cancer this decade.
Read more →Deals and M&A
Sixth Street and KKR Just Wrote Biotech's Biggest Preferred Equity Check
Two of the largest alternative asset managers pumped up to $1 billion of preferred equity into BridgeBio Pharma, with Sixth Street leading at $800 million. The permanent capital carries a 7% coupon and converts to common stock only if shares nearly double. It's a new financing template for late-stage biotechs caught between clinical success and commercial scale, letting BridgeBio fund four simultaneous drug launches without diluting shareholders.
Read more →Ipsen Dropped $2.5 Billion on Two Deals in Five Days
Ipsen bought Kartos Therapeutics (up to $1.75 billion) on June 29, then scooped up Swiss startup Memo Therapeutics (up to $800 million) on July 1. The Memo deal centers on potravitug, a potential first-ever antiviral for BK polyomavirus, a virus that threatens thousands of kidney transplants annually. Both acquisitions reinforce CEO David Loew's strategy of bolt-on buys in the half-billion to $3 billion range.
Read more →MacroGenics Sold Its Entire Factory. On Purpose.
MacroGenics unloaded its complete biologics manufacturing operation to CDMO Bora Pharmaceuticals for $122.5 million, then signed a supply deal to keep using the same facility. The cash extends the company's runway through 2028, buying time for early ADC data readouts later this year. It's a contrarian move in an era when big pharma is spending billions to build new plants.
Read more →United Therapeutics Bet $140M on Regrowing Your Thymus
The pulmonary hypertension specialist acquired Thymmune Therapeutics, a preclinical startup developing lab-grown thymic cells to restore immune function. Total deal value could hit $300 million. The play connects to United Therapeutics' bigger ambition: manufacturing transplant organs from pigs and 3D printers. A rebuilt thymus could be the missing piece that teaches the body to accept those organs.
Read more →Clinical and Regulatory
The Drug That Flopped in Lupus Is Days Away From a Kidney Disease Approval
Vera Therapeutics' atacicept, once abandoned after failing in lupus and MS, faces its FDA decision on July 7 for IgA nephropathy. Phase 3 data showed a 42-percentage-point gap over placebo in proteinuria reduction (p < 0.0001). Analysts project peak revenues up to $2.5 billion, but atacicept enters an increasingly crowded market with four approved competitors already on the field.
Read more →An FDA Panel Full of Peptide Sellers Is About to Vote on Peptide Rules
The FDA's pharmacy compounding panel meets July 23-24 to decide whether seven popular peptides should be cleared for broader use. The problem: multiple newly appointed members run clinics or pharmacies that sell the very peptides they'll vote on. The panel was triggered by an HHS directive from Secretary Kennedy, and critics are calling it a case study in regulatory capture with a multi-billion-dollar gray market at stake.
Read more →Deaf Toddlers Are Hearing Their Parents for the First Time
Sensorion reported early human data from its OTOF gene therapy trial in profoundly deaf children aged 6 to 31 months. Kids who previously registered zero hearing response are now detecting sound at 60-70 decibels, with no serious adverse events. The results are early but meaningful, especially for reaching children during the narrow developmental window when the brain learns language from sound.
Read more →Funding and Markets
Biotech's Boom Has a Billion-Dollar Blind Spot
Forty private biotechs raised $100 million or more in the first half of 2026, and the largest biotech IPO ever (Kailera, $625 million) closed in April. But the money is concentrating into a small club of late-stage winners; first-time seed and Series A deals are on pace for their worst year since before the pandemic. Biotech's funding winter is over for some, and getting colder for everyone else.
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