Ruben Sebastian

Belén Garijo, departing CEO of Merck KGaA, will take the helm at #Sanofi as its new CEO starting in April 2026

www.sanofi.com/en/media-roo...

Belgian Immune System Drugmaker AgomAb Files for US IPO AgomAb Therapeutics NV filed for a initial public offering in the US to help fund trials of its drugs to treat immune and inflammation diseases.

European biotech Agomab files for a #Nasdaq IPO

Will we see a surge of news post #JPM26?

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Eikon, a high-profile startup led by Merck vets, seeks an IPO Run by Roger Perlmutter and backed by more than $1 billion in private funding, Eikon will use the IPO proceeds to advance a group of experimental cancer drugs.

Eikon joins the IPO queue after raising over $1B in private funding since 2019 #JPM26

Aktis (now $AKTS) raised $318M in 2026’s first biotech IPO last week. Predictions for 2026 biotech IPOs are in the 30-40 range

www.biopharmadive.com/news/eikon-i...

Another deal coming from $NVS this morning #JPM26

Novartis has entered into a worldwide license agreement with PepLib for an undisclosed peptide-based radioligand therapy asset

$50M upfront + undisclosed milestones/royalties

www.peplib.com/news_detail/...

NVIDIA $NVDA and Lilly $LLY are all-in on AI powered drug discovery #JPM26

investor.lilly.com/news-release...

SciNeuro and Novartis Enter into a Licensing and Collaboration Agreement for Next Generation Therapeutics to Treat Alzheimer's Disease /PRNewswire/ -- SciNeuro grants Novartis an exclusive worldwide license to develop SciNeuro's novel antibody program that leverages a proprietary shuttle...

SciNeuro and Novartis $NVS enter into a licensing and collaboration agreement for next-gen therapeutics to treat #Alzheimers

Amyloid beta targeted antibody program with a proprietary BBB shuttle technology

$165M upfront and up to $1.5B total deal #JPM26

www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

AbbVie $ABBV and RemeGen announce exclusive ex China licensing agreement to develop a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody for advanced solid tumors

$650M upfront and up to $4.95B total deal

#JPM26 news is cautiously warming up

news.abbvie.com/2026-01-12-A...

Merck in talks to buy cancer drugmaker Revolution Medicines for up to $32bn US company is attempting to acquire the maker of a new treatment for pancreatic cancer

Tick tock $RVMD

#JPM26

www.ft.com/content/93b4...

NRG Therapeutics energizing drug discovery in neurodegenerative diseases.

NRG Therapeutics is now a clinical-stage company! First participants dosed in the FIH trial of lead candidate NRG5051 developed for #ALS and #Parkinsons

This great news comes with the tailwind of the oversubscribed Series B we backed last summer. #JPM26

www.nrgtherapeutics.com/news/22/51/N...

AbolerIS Pharma Announces First Patient Dosed in Part II of Phase 1 Study of ABO21009, a Novel Anti-CD45RC Antibody, for Rheumatoid Arthritis /PRNewswire/ -- AbolerIS Pharma ("AbolerIS"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of people suffering from autoimmune...

What a year for Aboleris Pharma, now reporting the first patient dosed in Part II of its Phase 1 study of ABO21009, a first-in-class anti-CD45RC mAb for rheumatoid arthritis and other #autoimmune diseases.

Flawless clinical execution by the team! #JPM26!

www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

AMGEN ACQUIRES DARK BLUE THERAPEUTICS, BOLSTERING ONCOLOGY PIPELINE| Amgen

Lilly/Ventyx is the second biotech acquisition of the year, after Amgen $AMGN acquisition of UK protein degradation startup Dark Blue Therapeutics for up to $840 million.

Dark Blue was developing a small molecule degrader of MLLT1/3 for AML.

#JPM26

www.amgen.com/newsroom/pre...

Lilly $LLY is buying Ventyx Bio $VTYX for $1.2 billion to advance oral therapies targeting inflammatory-mediated diseases.

The #JPM26 news flow dance has started

investor.lilly.com/news-release...

Great time celebrating the holidays at the New York Stock Exchange last night. It was a pleasure to join many colleagues from the #biotech finance & business communities on the iconic NYSE floor. I’m gradually becoming a true New Yorker! Happy holidays everyone! 🥂✨

French biotech Abivax's shares climb on Eli Lilly bid rumors French biotech company Abivax's shares rose by over 20% on Wednesday on market rumours that U.S. pharma giant Eli Lilly could make an offer for the business.

The dance has begun $ABVX

#Abivax #biotech #pharma

www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Earlier coverage 👇

bsky.app/profile/rube...

Paramount launches a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery | CNN Business Paramount has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders with an all-cash offer in an extraordinary endeavor to gain control of Hollywood’s most sought-after prize — a bid that Netflix bea...

Paramount launches a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery worth $108.4 billion.

It seems that the recent competitive bid in biopharma between $PFE and $NVO for $MTSR has served as an early Christmas inspiration for some CEOs…

www.cnn.com/2025/12/08/b...

bsky.app/profile/rube...

bsky.app/profile/rube...

Great news reported today from two of my #portfolio companies: $KYMR (+107% over the last 6 months) and $DYN (+63% same period). Stocks are trading well on strong clinical redouts, with public markets now rewarding good data. You can own stocks into clinical catalysts and be compensated for it

$DYN announces positive topline results from the registrational expansion cohort of its Ph1/2 trial of z-rostudirsen (TfR1 targeted morpholino oligomer) in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. On track to submit for US accelerated approval in 2Q26

#portfolioCo

investors.dyne-tx.com/news-release...

$KYMR announces positives results from Ph1b of KT-621 (oral STAT6 degrader) in atopic derm. Ph2b in AD is ongoing and expansion to asthma expected in 1Q26. Shares jumped 35% in premarket.

Oral therapies with biologics-like activity are becoming a reality!

investors.kymeratx.com/news-release...

Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros. and HBO Max, creating streaming titan If approved by Trump administration regulators, the deal would lead to a new entertainment and technology behemoth.

Netflix to acquire Warner Bros Discovery for $82.7 billion. The main jewels are Warner’s film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO

This deal has clearly nothing to do with biopharma, but we all love Game of Thrones, Succession, Friends etc. Happy Friday everyone!

www.nbcnews.com/business/med...

YouTube video by Atlas Venture Atlas Venture Year in Review 2025 - B. Booth

It’s tiiiiime!!! 😉

Atlas Venture 2025 Year In Review

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrNo...

Last week we saw a resurgence of #biotech M&A activity:
- J&J to buy Halda (RIPTAC platform for prostate cancer/solid tumors) for $3.05B
- Merck to buy Cidara (antiviral for influenza) for $9.2B
- AstraZeneca bought SixPeaks Bio (obesity) for $300M

www.jnj.com/media-center...

His discoveries deeply influenced my decision to pursue my PhD at @crg.eu on stem cell biology and cell fate conversions. Years later I was fortunate enough to briefly meet him at an @isscr.org Annual meeting, a true honor as I got to meet one of the great legends of modern developmental biology

Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John Gurdon dies aged 92 It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the Gurdon Institute.

Today is a very sad day. Sir John Gurdon was a titan of developmental biology. Gurdon’s foundational research, culminating in his Nobel Prize recognition in 2012, was a great source of inspiration to me as a university student at the time

www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...

Great recognition to a fundamental discovery that reshaped modern #immunology. Congrats to the laureates!

However, imho the Nobel committee missed the chance to acknowledge an additional key contributor to the understanding of #Foxp3 and #Treg functionality

Cancer cell plasticity defines response to immunotherapy in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma - Nature Communications Immune surveillance is critical to prevent the development and progression of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Here, the authors show that epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in cancer cells is associated with changes in their immune checkpoint ligand profile during mouse cSCC progression, which dictates differential responses to immune checkpoint blockade.

This study by @lauralorenzos.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com is particularly relevant > expression of immune checkpoint ligands shifts between epithelial & mesenchymal tumors, suggesting combo ICB strategies are needed for treating hybrid EMT & mesenchymal tumors

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Identification, functional insights and therapeutic targeting of EMT tumour states - Nature Reviews Cancer In this Review, Dong and Blanpain outline our current understanding of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cancer, which we now know is not a simple binary switch but the existence of a series of different tumour states. The authors also discuss the implications of this knowledge for pharmacologically targeting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition to overcome therapy resistance.

Elegant piece by @cedric-blanpain.bsky.social in @natrevcancer.nature.com especially highlighting the recent advances of potential #therapeutic strategies to target #EMT tumor states

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Monte Rosa Therapeutics Announces Collaboration with Novartis for Degraders to Treat Immune-mediated Diseases Monte Rosa Therapeutics Announces Collaboration with Novartis for Degraders to Treat Immune-mediated Diseases ...

Monte Rosa Therapeutics $GLUE announces collaboration with Novartis for molecular glue #degraders to treat immune-mediated diseases

2nd partnership between the 2 companies, now including $120M upfront and up to $5.7 billion total deal

#biotech #immunology

www.globenewswire.com/news-release...