Biotech and Pharma Industry News | BioPharma Dive

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• Deep Dive // Emerging biotech Biotech startups are built on venture capital. Track funding rounds here. At least seven biotechs have announced venture fundings since Monday, representing the busiest calendar week in two months among the investment firms BioPharma Dive tracks. Updated 20 hours ago
• Tracker 10 clinical trials to watch in the second half of 2026 The biotechnology sector’s upswing accelerated in the first half. Positive results from anticipated trials in lung cancer, Alzheimer’s and multiple autoimmune conditions could add to the momentum.
• Startup launches Chasing Dupixent, a biotech aims to make better antibody drugs for eczema Infinimmune, a California startup, is developing treatments it claims might last longer and be more effective than existing atopic dermatitis medications.
• Sionna cystic fibrosis drug fails key trial, removing threat to Vertex Sionna’s medicine didn’t have a meaningful additive impact when combined with Vertex’s top-selling Trikafta, surprising analysts and collapsing company shares.
• News roundup Silence cashes in on ‘differentiated’ data; UK reaffirms support for childhood vaccines Some analysts believe Silence’s polycythemia vera drug could be superior to a closely watched Takeda medicine. Elsewhere, the FDA spurned a radiopharmaceutical and AbCellera shares climbed to levels not seen since 2023.
• Q&A // Gene editing Scribe’s Benjamin Oakes on a rare IPO and bringing CRISPR to the masses The CEO spoke with BioPharma Dive about convincing investors to buy into the first gene editing IPO in more than two years.
• Startup launches Ex-Legend CEO takes helm at biotech startup scouring the globe for drugs Ying Huang is now running K2 Therapeutics, which has licensed multiple prospects from China-based biotechs and is searching for more “high-potential” medicines.
• Emerging biotech Vaderis hauls in $152M to test an AKT-targeting drug The startup is one of at least a few young companies zeroing in on the rare bleeding disorder, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, with a more precise AKT blocker.
• Emerging biotech Epicrispr lands $90M to advance epigenetic editing drug for rare muscle disease The startup has completed enrollment of an early-stage study testing a first-of-its-kind treatment for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a disease targeted by many other drugmakers.
• Jazz to buy rare epilepsy drugmaker in potentially $1.3B deal Actio Biosciences, which will receive $820 million up front in the deal, adds to a major upswing in private biotech buyouts seen throughout this year.
• Why Big Pharma is chasing the industry’s most-powerful supercomputer Bristol Myers Squibb is the latest major drugmaker to tap Nvidia for more computing power, betting that larger models and AI agents can speed drug discovery.
• Pain drugs Latigo IPO raises nearly $350M for pain drug development The company could rival Vertex and Lilly in the burgeoning market for non-opioid, ion-channel-blocking pain drugs. Its offering also adds to a recent and significant uptick in large biotech IPOs.
• Deep Dive // IPO window Biotech IPOs are the industry’s lifeblood. Track how they’re performing. Drug startups have banked $6 billion in IPOs so far in 2026, more than the combined amount raised by this point in the previous four years. Updated Aug. 7, 2026
• Emerging biotech Alkeus, an unorthodox eye drug startup, acquired by Tarsus for up to $800M Alkeus brought to late-stage testing a Stargardt disease therapy that former executive chairman and Vertex founder Josh Boger once called, “if it works, the most perfect drug I’ve ever seen.”
• News roundup ‘Significant’ demand for Revolution drug; Intellia pinpoints liver toxicity culprit Early indicators from a compassionate use plan led analysts to hike projections for daraxonrasib. Elsewhere, Intellia believes it’s answered a key safety question and Arrowhead moved to catch a rival.
• Takeda approval ushers in new wave of sleep drugs An FDA nod mostly clears the way for Orzeyful to enter, by Wall Street estimates, a multibillion-dollar market for drugs that boost “orexin” proteins.
• Replimune rebounds to win FDA approval of melanoma drug The accelerated clearance follows two earlier rejections and the support of an advisory panel that disputed the arguments of FDA scientists.
• Emerging biotech With $263M, LifeMine unearths a new drug for organ transplants Led by serial biotech entrepreneur Greg Verdine, the startup mined fungi genomes to find a safer alternative to the drugs widely used to prevent the body from rejecting transplanted organs.
• IPO window Cardiac drug developer Braveheart banks more than $382M in IPO Braveheart’s offering was the largest among four biotech IPOs that collectively raised more than $1 billion from public investors last week. Updated Aug. 6, 2026
• Earnings roundup: Gilead’s ‘uncertain’ future, Pfizer’s crossroads and Merck’s PCSK9 launch Some analysts see warning signs in crucial drug launches from Gilead and Merck, while an important trial readout could change Pfizer’s growth trajectory.
• Vaccines FDA approves Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine The clearance paves the way for the first preventive flu shot based on mRNA technology and completes a dramatic regulatory turnaround.
• Vaccines Erica Schwartz confirmed as next CDC director Schwartz will step into an agency that has been without a permanent leader for almost a year amid RFK Jr.’s tumultuous tenure as HHS chief.
• An AstraZeneca-Bristol Myers megamerger? Wall Street isn’t thrilled. In fact, the former lost tens of billions of dollars in market value following reports of a potential tie-up between the pharmaceutical giants.
• Obesity drugs Lilly climbs, Novo falls as obesity drug battle intensifies A research disappointment and a miss on Wegovy pill sales hurt Novo, while Lilly’s injectable franchise once again surpassed analyst expectations.
• IPO window Attovia adds to biotech IPO momentum with $289M offering The startup is the 12th drug company to bank at least $250 million in an IPO this year, nearly matching totals last seen during the sector’s pandemic peak, according to BioPharma Dive data.