Original reporting and analysis on the stories shaping biotech.
Merck's antibody-drug conjugate sac-TMT just became the first ADC to beat chemotherapy on both overall survival and progression-free survival in advanced endometrial cancer. For patients who'd exhausted chemo and immunotherapy, this Phase 3 win could rewrite the treatment playbook.
ASCO 2026 kicked off with Bristol Myers Squibb unveiling pivotal myeloma data for its next-gen CELMoD drug and Pfizer flexing seven years of stunning lung cancer results. Opening day also delivered brain radiation breakthroughs and the first randomized multicancer blood test data.
Big pharma is pouring over $10 billion into AI partnerships to fix its brutal R&D economics, and early clinical data shows AI-designed drugs succeeding at nearly double the historical rate. But the ultimate test (a fully AI-discovered, FDA-approved drug) still hasn't happened.
AACR 2026 delivered three standout lung cancer datasets: Merck's new two-in-one antibody, a rescue drug for patients who've exhausted all options, and a pill keeping cancer at bay for over four years. The NSCLC landscape just got a whole lot more competitive.
BioNTech/BMS and Pfizer are building nearly identical lung cancer drugs but just made opposite bets on how to prove they work. Their ASCO 2026 split on trial endpoints could reshape how the next generation of cancer therapies reaches patients.
Kelonia's in vivo CAR-T therapy skips the factory entirely, reprogramming your immune cells inside your body. At ASCO 2026, all six patients in the trial hit the deepest possible cancer response, and analysts are calling the data 'nutty' in the best way possible.
Biopharma's confidence index just hit 96 out of 100, fueled by record M&A and a dealmaking frenzy that could top $170 billion this year. But underneath the optimism, a growing chasm between large pharma's steady hiring and small biotech's skeleton crews tells a very different story.
Biotech startups are dodging down rounds by reopening old funding rounds instead of raising new ones. It's clever financial engineering, but the strategy reveals just how much stress still lurks beneath the surface of private biotech markets.
The FDA keeps approving rare disease drugs at a record pace, but surprise rejections, reversed decisions, and canceled meetings are rattling the companies and investors who make those treatments possible. The result: a funding crisis hiding inside a regulatory one.
The FDA just approved the first oral antiviral that prevents COVID after exposure, not just treats it. Shionogi's Xocova cut symptomatic infection by 67% in a pivotal trial, filling a gap that's been wide open since Omicron killed off the antibody options.
Gilead paid $3.15 billion upfront for Tubulis before anyone outside the company saw the ovarian cancer data. At ASCO 2026, TUB-040 finally showed its cards: a 61% response rate and 11-month progression-free survival that could reshape the ADC landscape.
The inventor of blockbuster CAR-T therapy Carvykti just launched a new company that ditches gene editing entirely. Wondercel Therapeutics debuted early clinical data at ASCO 2026, and the results are equal parts promising and sobering.
Two biotechs raised $556 million in a single day on the Nasdaq, with both deals upsized due to overwhelming demand. Hemab and Seaport's dual IPOs are the strongest signal yet that biotech's long IPO freeze is finally thawing.
Bristol Myers Squibb is betting up to $15.2 billion on 13 preclinical drugs from China's Hengrui Medicine, none of which have been tested in humans. It's one of the largest China-originated pharma deals ever, and it's landing right in the middle of a geopolitical minefield.
AstraZeneca is pushing two drugs toward approval despite Phase 3 failures, betting that subgroup data and supplemental analyses can overcome the biggest hurdle in drug development. The outcome could redefine what "enough evidence" means for the entire industry.
Agios' next-gen pyruvate kinase activator tebapivat just flunked its phase 2b trial in a blood cancer called lower-risk MDS, and the company is scrapping the entire program. The failure exposes a classic biotech trap: assuming a mechanism that works in genetic anemias will translate to cancer.
The FDA just approved a first-of-its-kind antibiotic that doesn't just protect its partner drug from bacterial enzymes; it fights back on its own. In a head-to-head trial against a heavyweight carbapenem, it won by a 20-point margin.
BMS's next-gen myeloma drug mezigdomide just doubled progression-free survival in a phase 3 trial of heavily pretreated patients. The ASCO 2026 data validate CELMoDs as a potent new drug class that could reshape how we treat one of blood cancer's toughest enemies.
Eli Lilly unveiled early clinical data at ASCO 2026 for a next-generation Nectin-4 ADC that targets the same protein as Padcev but carries a completely different weapon. With Padcev anchoring a multi-billion-dollar bladder cancer franchise, the stakes couldn't be higher.
U.S. lawmakers want to add biotech to the COINS Act, which already restricts investment in AI and chips flowing to China. With nearly 40% of major pharma licensing deals involving Chinese biotechs, the move could fundamentally rewire how drugs get developed.
For 40 years, the protein driving pancreatic cancer was called "undruggable." Revolution Medicines just reported phase 3 results that nearly doubled survival in previously treated patients, and the oncology world is paying attention.
Pfizer is paying $650 million upfront (and up to $10.5 billion total) for 12 early-stage cancer drugs from China's Innovent Biologics. It's one of the largest cross-border biopharma deals ever, and it's landing right in the middle of a U.S.-China geopolitical minefield.
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