BioNucleus Network | Biotech News

Home of the biotech newsletter you'll actually enjoy reading. Twice weekly. Free.

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Alnylam just signed a deal worth up to $2B with Inceptive, an AI biotech co-founded by Jakob Uszkoreit 👇
The researcher who helped create the Transformer architecture behind ChatGPT.

The goal: use AI to design better RNAi drugs.

$ALNY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Germany's proposed drug pricing reforms just got a costly response.

💰 Lilly is cutting its planned €2.3B investment roughly in half.

💰 Boehringer is cutting €900M.

That's more than $2B in pharma investment disappearing as a result of drug pricing reforms.

$LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Anti-aging startup NewLimit just raised $435M.

The company uses mRNA-delivered transcription factors to "reprogram" aging cells and make them function more like younger versions of themselves.

It plans to enter Phase 1 next year.

#biotech #longevity

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

One of ASCO's biggest moments: Revolution Medicines' daraxonrasib in pancreatic cancer:

📈 Doubled overall survival
📈 Doubled progression-free survival
📈 Nearly tripled response rates

The presentation earned multiple rounds of applause and a standing ovation.

$RVMD

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Lilly announced TWO more deals on the same day:

💉 Hanmi: GLP-2 drug for short bowel syndrome (up to $1.2B)

🔬 Haisco: 5-program R&D collaboration (up to $3B)

At this point Lilly is converting GLP-1 cash into biotech assets faster than most companies can pitch them.

$LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Biotech’s next big fight may be geopolitical. 🇺🇸🧬🇨🇳

Lawmakers are pushing to restrict U.S. investment and licensing deals tied to Chinese biotech as concerns grow America is outsourcing future innovation.

The debate: block China…or fix U.S. biotech competitiveness?

#biotech

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Lilly just added THREE vaccine acquisitions worth up to $3.8B combined:

💉 Curevo → shingles
🧫 LimmaTech → bacterial vaccines
🦠 Vaccine Company → West Nile, dengue & Zika programs

Lilly's 2026 acquisition list just keeps growing. GLP-1 cash is working overtime.

$LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

@PharmaAlerts It could also discourage patient enrollment if they see odds are stacked against a successful trial. Not to mention how difficult it will be to track insider bets at scale.

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

You can already bet on sports, elections, and apparently aliens. Now biotech wants in 😂

Kalshi is listing drug milestone contracts and Endpoint Arena is testing clinical trial predictions.

Question: are we forecasting science...or starting to influence it?

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Lilly's retatrutide posted 28.3% average weight loss (70 lbs) in Phase 3 obesity data.

📉 45% hit ≥30% loss
📉 65% fell below obesity BMI levels

But highest dose side effects included:
🤢 42% nausea
🚽 32% diarrhea
📋 26% constipation

$LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

BMS just partnered with Anthropic to deploy Claude across 30,000+ employees and global operations.

Goals include:

🧪 Drug target discovery
🏭 Manufacturing
💻 AI-powered development
📊 Unlocking disconnected data

BMS also wants to cut target-to-lead timelines by 50%.

$BMY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Regeneron just placed a $2.3B bet on Parabilis and its Helicon platform designed to target proteins pharma has long labeled "undruggable."

How it works:
🎯 Antibody finds target
📦 Payload delivered
🧬 Goes after hard-to-reach intracellular proteins

$REGN

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Pharma companies trying to avoid Trump’s proposed 100% drug tariffs are finding out the exemption process is...not exactly simple 👀

Full story in the May 19 issue of BioNucleus Briefing. Link in bio.

#biotech #pharma #drugdevelopment

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Novo just fired a shot back at Lilly.

High-dose Wegovy data showed certain early responders lost 27.7% body weight. With overall avg nearly 21%.

Zepbound average weight loss ~20% for context

Novo also reported oral pill data showing early responders hit 21.6%.

$NVO $LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Big Pharma keeps paying for speed.

Bristol Myers Squibb + Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals inked a deal worth up to $15.2B.

💰 $600M upfront
🧬 13 programs
🎯 Oncology / Hematology / Immunology

China’s faster R&D timelines may be the real asset here.

Time = money.

$BMY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Hantavirus headlines hit…And vaccine stocks instantly woke up.

📈 $MRNA
📈 $INO
📈 $NVAX
📈 $EBS

Important context:
🧪 Moderna’s vaccine work is early stage
🦠 Most experts see slim odds of a major outbreak

Biotech reflexes from 2020 are still alive.

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Zuckerberg-backed Biohub is dropping $500M on AI biology.

Goal:
🧬 Build predictive models of human cells
💊 Speed drug discovery
📊 Simulate disease before wet lab testing
$400M → internal work
$100M → global ecosystem funding

Partners include $NVDA + major research groups.

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

For the first time in 16 years: Obesity > Oncology in pharma pipeline value

Per Deloitte:
💊 Obesity = 25%
🎗️ Oncology = 20%

In 2022 it was:
1% vs 32%

GLP-1s changed everything. But 96% of obesity value sits with just 3 companies.

Huge upside. Huge concentration risk.

$LLY

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

20,000 patients before the ad blitz starts 👀

Eli Lilly says Foundayo has reached 20k patients since its April 9 launch.

📱 45% via LillyDirect
💻 35% via telehealth platforms
👨‍⚕️ 8,000 prescribers onboard
🆕 80% of users new to GLP-1s

$LLY $NVO

[BioNucleus Network | Biotech News @BioNucleusNet]

Biotech funding… but open to everyone

Rejuvenate Bio is crowdfunding its gene therapy pipeline

• $250 minimum investment
• Equity, not donations
• Focus: aging + chronic disease

Early stage biotech has been VC-only for decades

This could change that