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No Factory Required: The First Circular RNA Therapy That Builds CAR-T Cells Inside Your Body
RiboX Therapeutics just earned FDA clearance to test RXIM002, the world's first circular RNA-based in vivo CAR therapy. Instead of pulling a patient's immune cells out, engineering them in a lab, and shipping them back (a process that takes weeks and costs a fortune), this drug delivers instructions via the bloodstream and reprograms T cells on the spot. The target: autoimmune cytopenias, starting with immune thrombocytopenia. Circular RNA acts like mRNA's tougher cousin; its closed-loop structure resists degradation, potentially producing therapeutic proteins longer from a single dose.
Why it matters: This IND sits at the collision point of two massive trends (next-gen RNA medicines and in vivo cell therapy) and could eventually replace the slow, expensive CAR-T manufacturing process with something closer to a clinic injection.
Read more →Clinical and Regulatory
AstraZeneca's Two-for-One Cancer Drug Couldn't Beat the Champ
AstraZeneca killed its Phase 3 lung cancer trial after volrustomig, a bispecific antibody designed to block two immune checkpoints at once, failed to outperform Keytruda plus chemo. An independent review board concluded the drug was unlikely to hit either co-primary endpoint. Other volrustomig trials continue, but the result throws cold water on the industry's assumption that "two targets beats one" in solid tumors.
Read more →EyePoint's Six-Month Eye Drug Delivered on Durability, Missed Its Primary Endpoint
DURAVYU cut injection burden by 42% versus standard aflibercept in wet AMD patients, with 76% needing no supplemental treatment through Week 32. But the drug missed its primary non-inferiority endpoint in the full population, leaving the whole program riding on a second pivotal trial (LUCIA) to clean up the story.
Read more →MoonLake's Drug Hit Every Endpoint. The Stock Dropped Anyway.
Sonelokimab nailed its primary endpoint in psoriatic arthritis, with 42.1% of patients achieving ACR50 at Week 16. Skin clearance and minimal disease activity numbers looked strong too. But MoonLake withheld placebo comparisons (the trial is still blinded), and lingering skepticism about the company's data presentation habits sent shares lower.
Read more →A Radioactive Implant Just Got FDA Humanitarian Device Exemption for Bile Duct Cancer
OncoSil won a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) from the FDA for a microscopic phosphorus-32 implant that delivers targeted radiation directly inside bile duct tumors. It's the first Class III device cleared for cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer where only 24% of patients on standard treatment survive two years. The initial rollout is limited to a small number of centers and patients.
Read more →Deals and Strategy
Lilly Drops $370M on Drug Targets the Rest of Pharma Abandoned
While rivals fight over GLP-1s and oncology biologics, Eli Lilly signed a $370 million deal with OmniAb to hunt for antibodies against ion channels, one of the most notoriously difficult target classes in biology. OmniAb's stock jumped 22%. The collaboration fits Lilly's quiet buildup in pain biology, including last year's SiteOne Therapeutics acquisition.
Read more →Sandoz Commits $322M to License Biosimilars From a Chinese Company You've Never Heard Of
Sandoz licensed up to 10 biosimilars from Shanghai Henlius, covering copies of Erbitux, Repatha, and Benlysta. Combined with an earlier ipilimumab deal, Sandoz has now committed over $600 million in potential payments to a single Chinese partner, signaling that China's biologics ecosystem has graduated from follower to global supplier.
Read more →Funding and Financings
Biotech Raised $9.1 Billion in H1 2026. Most Startups Got Nothing.
The best first-half VC total in four years hides a brutal concentration problem: 76% of the money came from megarounds of $100 million or more, cancer and autoimmune companies dominated the funding landscape, and two-thirds of rounds went to clinical-stage companies. Seed-stage founders and therapeutic areas like neuroscience and antimicrobials are getting squeezed out.
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