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AstraZeneca's Sure-Thing Heart Drug Just Flunked Its Biggest Exam
AstraZeneca's gene-silencing drug Wainua failed its Phase 3 trial in ATTR cardiomyopathy, missing its primary endpoint across 1,432 patients. The shock: the drug already works beautifully for the nerve version of the same disease and did exactly what it was supposed to do biologically, lowering the rogue protein. But lowering a biomarker and preventing heart attacks turned out to be very different things. The failure strengthens the position of existing stabilizer drugs from Pfizer and BridgeBio while raising uncomfortable class-wide questions for all gene silencers.
Why it matters: The result challenges a core assumption in ATTR treatment: that more aggressive protein suppression automatically translates to better cardiac outcomes. It reshapes the competitive landscape and forces the field to rethink when, how, and for whom gene silencers should be used.
Read more →Clinical Breakthroughs
A Cancer Therapy Is Producing Durable Lupus Remissions
Adicet Bio's off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy, prula-cel, drove 54% of lupus nephritis patients into gold-standard remission at 12 months, with responses holding out to 21 months. The secret sauce: gamma delta T cells from donors that don't trigger immune rejection. Patients who were on cocktails of immunosuppressants are now off all medications. A pivotal study is next.
Read more →BioNTech's Lung Cancer Drug Nearly Doubled Survival Time
Gotistobart delivered 18.5-month median survival in previously treated squamous lung cancer versus 10 months for chemo (hazard ratio: 0.56). That's a setting where doctors celebrate gaining a single month. The catch: it's Stage 1 data from just 87 patients, and the pivotal portion of the trial is still enrolling.
Read more →Hepatitis Delta Just Got Its Second Weapon
Mirum's brelovitug hit its Phase 3 primary endpoint in chronic hepatitis delta, a devastating liver disease that had exactly one approved treatment. Earlier data showed 100% virologic response at the weekly dose. With a potential FDA filing in 2027, the HDV market is finally moving beyond a one-drug monopoly.
Read more →Deals and M&A
Telix Spent Up to $2.35 Billion to Own Radiopharmaceuticals' Most Precious Resource
Telix is acquiring ITM Isotope Technologies Munich for $1.65 billion upfront and up to $700 million in milestone payments, securing one of the world's top producers of lutetium-177, the radioactive isotope that powers cancer-targeting drugs. In a sector where a single reactor outage can cause global shortages and supply historically depended on Russia, owning the fuel is a survival strategy, not a luxury.
Read more →Roche Bet $1.5 Billion on a Drug That Hasn't Touched a Human
Roche licensed a preclinical trispecific antibody from China's Simcere Zaiming for up to $1.53 billion. SIM0660 grabs three targets at once (two on B cells, one on T cells) to prevent cancer cells from dodging treatment. The deal spans both oncology and autoimmune disease, adding to the wave of billion-dollar China-originated licensing transactions.
Read more →Science and Ethics
The FDA Just Cleared the Most Precise Gene Editor for Human Testing
Prime Medicine got IND clearance for PM-647, a prime editing therapy that fixes a single DNA "typo" causing alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Unlike CRISPR, prime editing nicks only one DNA strand and writes in the correction like a biological find-and-replace. No approved treatment exists for the liver side of this disease. Data expected in 2027.
Read more →Two Children Dead in Chinese Gene-Editing Trials, and the World Almost Didn't Find Out
Two children died in separate gene-editing trials in China; neither death was promptly disclosed. One consent form reportedly didn't even list death as a possible risk. Experts say the cases expose dangerous gaps between fast-track clinical ambitions and safety oversight, echoing concerns that first arose with the CRISPR babies scandal in 2018.
Read more →From 365 Needles to 52: Weekly Insulin Is Officially Here
The FDA approved Eli Lilly's Onswik, a once-weekly insulin for type 2 diabetes that eliminates over 300 injections per year. With Novo Nordisk's Awiqli already on the market, the U.S. now has two weekly options. Given that around 4 in 10 insulin patients don't follow their daily regimen, fewer needles could be the biggest adherence fix in years.
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