Your Weekly Biotech News Fix | Ep. 715
The week of 6.23.25
Hello Avatar! Another week of biotech news is in the history books. We are proud to bring you the latest edition of Sweat Equity, our weekly biotech news fix. The content is designed to be consumed as a quick scroll to bring readers up to speed on key events from the week. For those of you interested to read a bit more, we provide links to the source articles.
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BIOTECH NEWS UPDATES FOR THE WEEK 6.23
Sanofi, Gilead Deepen Protein Degrader Pipelines in Separate Deals With Kymera
Kymera Therapeutics scored two separate deals to expand the reach of its targeted protein degradation platform. Gilead inked an exclusive option deal worth up to $2 billion for immune-related targets, while Sanofi walked away from its lead IRAK4 program but maintained interest in earlier-stage assets. The divergence highlights shifting priorities across immunology portfolios and gives Kymera new capital to accelerate STAT6, now emerging as its most promising pipeline candidate. Investors are reading this as a refocusing moment, with Gilead’s option validating Kymera’s platform even as Sanofi steps back.
Nektar Declares Phase IIb Eczema Win for Rezpeg, But Analysts Unconvinced
Nektar Therapeutics reported that its IL-2 pathway agonist, rezpegaldesleukin, met the primary endpoint in its Phase IIb eczema trial. While the headline EASI-75 response of 83% impressed, analysts raised concerns about small sample size, dropout imputation, and whether the durability and safety can rival Dupixent. Skeptics also pointed out that efficacy may have been inflated by statistical methods like NRI, and that true commercial value will depend on real-world tolerability and dosing. Still, if long-interval dosing holds up, Rezpeg could offer a differentiated alternative for chronic inflammatory skin diseases.
TIGIT Turmoil: How Pharma Burned Billions on Failed Immuno-Oncology Projects
Once hyped as the next big checkpoint target, TIGIT has become a cautionary tale in immuno-oncology. Big pharma spent billions advancing anti-TIGIT antibodies into late-stage trials, only to see failures from Roche, Merck, and others as efficacy failed to materialize. The article details how poor patient selection, mechanistic uncertainty, and a rush to chase PD-1 combo profits led to the collapse, prompting a broader reassessment of next-gen I/O strategies. TIGIT’s unraveling now serves as a warning for emerging checkpoint targets like LAG-3 and CD73, where enthusiasm still runs high but mechanistic clarity is lacking.
Amgen Posts Obesity Data on Monthly Drug, But Questions Remain
Amgen released promising Phase II data for its long-acting obesity drug maritide, showing 14.5% weight loss at 52 weeks with monthly dosing. While efficacy appears solid, concerns over GI tolerability and patient dropout linger. Importantly, weight loss had not plateaued by the end of the study, suggesting potential upside with longer treatment. Maritide’s once-monthly format could be a key selling point, but Amgen still must prove that tolerability won’t limit adoption in a market increasingly defined by patient experience, not just numbers on a scale.
Alphabet subsidiary Calico colors in up to $570M aging deal with China’s Mabwell
Alphabet’s longevity-focused arm, Calico, has struck a major collaboration with China’s Mabwell Bioscience, potentially worth up to $570 million. The deal centers around Calico’s anti-inflammatory asset (dubbed 9MW3811) to target aging-related diseases. This follows an earlier joint investment of $500 million in 2018. The partnership extends despite a setback when fosigotifator, an ALS-targeting candidate, unsuccessful in a Phase II trial. The deal signals Calico’s commitment to advancing new targets in aging biology amid a challenging clinical landscape .
Longevity Biotech Takes Root on Nasdaq With $180M SPAC Deal
Israeli biotech Minovia Therapeutics, which specializes in mitochondrial augmentation therapies, is going public via a SPAC merger with Launch One Acquisition Corp. The deal, valued at $180 million, will rebrand the company as Mito US One and is expected to close in Q4 2025. Minovia’s lead candidate, MNV‑201 (a stem-cell therapy enriched with donor mitochondria) is currently in Phase II trials for Pearson syndrome and Phase Ib studies for myelodysplastic syndrome. The SPAC transaction will unlock roughly $240 million in growth capital to fund its pipeline and scale toward commercialization.
CONCLUSION
There you have it, another week of SWEAT EQUITY - Your Weekly Biotech News Fix. We hope you enjoyed it, please drop a comment with any feedback you may have.
We are now publishing 7x per week according to the following cadence:
Mondays: Stocks
Tuesdays: Biotech
Wednesdays: Podcast
Thursdays: Markets
Fridays: News
Saturdays: Podcast
Sundays: Strategy
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DISCLAIMER
None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind. All updates are sourced from publicly available disclosures. Insights are *opinions* written by an anonymous cartoon/scientist/investor.
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