Foghorn Therapeutics and Eli Lilly ended their oncology collaboration after Phase 1 data on cancer candidate FHD-909 (LY4050784) showed insufficient efficacy, halting its move into clinical development expansion and a SMARCA2 degrader program. Foghorn is cutting about 40% of its workforce, leaving roughly 65 full-time employees, and will refocus on its proprietary programs including EP300 and CBP degraders. The 2021 deal had brought $300 million upfront plus an $80 million equity investment from Lilly's Loxo Oncology, and the changes should extend Foghorn's cash runway into the second half of 2029.
Why it matters: A terminated big-pharma oncology alliance triggers pipeline reprioritization, layoffs and a readout on the SMARCA2 synthetic lethality hypothesis.
Sanofi will pay Regeneron $1bn upfront plus up to $7bn in milestones under an expanded immunology partnership worth up to $8bn, co-developing and co-commercialising four long-acting antibodies targeting IL-13, IL-4, an IL-4xIL-13 bispecific and IL-4Rα. The IL-13 antibody REGN20423 is in a Phase I study in atopic dermatitis, with the other three expected to enter clinical studies in 2027. Regeneron leads R&D, Sanofi leads commercialisation, costs and profits are split evenly, and the companies also settled their 2024 litigation over Dupixent, which earned $18.3bn in 2025 sales.
Varda Space Industries has raised $251m in a Series D round led by Lux Capital and Natural Capital, with Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund also contributing, bringing its total capital raised to $598m. The funds will increase the frequency and speed of launches and returns between Earth and orbit and deepen pharma partnerships, as Varda aims to market the first drug produced in microgravity, where APIs can crystallise in ways impossible on Earth. The company has completed six successful re-entry missions since its first launch in 2023 and plans more than 12 additional launches and re-entries up to 2028.
Roche returned Emugrobart, a Phase II muscle-building asset, to its originator Chugai on September 28, the same day it launched three Phase III trials of Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog developed with Denmark's Zealand Pharma. The ZUPREME programme of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies plans to enrol about 7000 people in total, with percentage change in body weight from baseline at week 64 as the primary endpoint. ZUPREME-3 targets about 3900 overweight or obese subjects without type 2 diabetes, ZUPREME-4 about 600 with type 2 diabetes, and ZUPREME-5 about 2500 overweight or obese patients with established cardiovascular disease.
AstraZeneca will invest $2 billion in Summit Therapeutics by subscribing to convertible preferred shares, giving it about 12% of the company after conversion. Alongside the equity stake, announced September 28, the two firms signed a binding clinical collaboration combining Sone-Ve with Ivonescimab in GI tumors, plus a non-binding MOU to explore pairing Ivonescimab with more of AstraZeneca's ADC portfolio.
Dizhe Pharmaceutical announced on the evening of September 29 that it has received the $600 million upfront payment from AstraZeneca, roughly 4 billion yuan. The sum sets a record for the largest upfront payment in an outbound licensing deal for a single Chinese small molecule drug. Founder Zhang Xiaolin has a relationship with AstraZeneca going back nearly twenty years.
Novo Nordisk has in-licensed ex-China rights to a once-weekly oral dual agonist of GLP1R and GIPR from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for $300 million up front, in one of the largest preclinical deals to date. The compound is intended for obesity, a core therapeutic area Novo Nordisk is building out through a series of deals this year. Hengrui continues its run of MNC partnerships.
AstraZeneca invested $2 billion in convertible preferred shares of Summit, the holder of overseas rights to Akeso's PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody ivonescimab, taking roughly a 12% stake. The deal, disclosed on September 28, 2026, gives AstraZeneca no rights to the drug itself but makes it the sponsor of clinical trials combining ivonescimab with its own ADC. Summit shares rose about 18% after hours and Akeso's Hong Kong shares gained more than 15% the next day.
Hengrui Medicine has licensed HRS-1596, a potential once-weekly oral GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist it developed in-house, to Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk receives exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize HRS-1596 outside greater China. The deal is worth up to $2.6 billion, including a $300 million upfront payment plus development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments.
Roche has halted clinical development of Emugrobart, an anti-MSTN antibody intended to build muscle and treat obesity, and ended all further work on the drug. Rights previously held by Roche return to Chugai, which disclosed the decision in a press release dated 29 September 2026. Chugai now controls the programme's future.
Merck has licensed SPR2015, a preclinical molecular-glue KRAS G12D (ON) inhibitor, from Shanghai-based Sipurui, gaining worldwide rights to the candidate. Sipurui receives $400 million upfront, about 2.684 billion RMB, plus potential milestone payments tied to development and commercialization across multiple indications. KRAS was long considered undruggable because its protein lacks a clear binding pocket.
Merck is licensing a KRAS G12D inhibitor from entrepreneur and synthetic chemist Tao Hu for $400 million upfront. Hu previously sold a different KRAS G12D inhibitor to AstraZeneca in 2023. Terms beyond the upfront payment and next steps were not disclosed.
BioNTech will close three manufacturing sites in Germany after months of searching for buyers without securing a sale. The company had been seeking to divest the facilities but could not lock in a deal. No further details on timing or workforce impact were disclosed in the accessible portion of the report.
AstraZeneca has invested $2 billion in Summit Therapeutics, according to the headline of a STAT+ report. Separately, Novo Nordisk licensed a once-weekly oral GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist for obesity from Hengrui Pharma, paying $300 million upfront for global rights outside China, with total deal value of $2.6 billion if milestones are met; the drug is ready for Phase 1 development.
AstraZeneca is investing $2 billion in Summit Therapeutics through a direct equity purchase of about 109,000 preferred shares, giving it roughly 12% of Summit's common shares at $18.36 per share, a 10% premium. The deal, expected to close within a week pending regulatory clearances, lifts Summit's cash to an estimated $2.5 billion and leaves it holding full rights to ivonescimab, the PD-1/VEGF bispecific, in its territories. The partners will also start trials pairing AstraZeneca's anti-CLDN18.2 ADC sonesitatug vedotin with ivonescimab in gastrointestinal cancers, while the FDA decides Summit's BLA for the NSCLC drug by Nov. 14.
Novo has agreed a deal worth $2.6 billion with Hengrui for a preclinical GLP-1/GIP drug. Hengrui is described as an in-demand partner in the obesity and metabolic space. No further deal terms or timelines are given.
Merck & Co. has licensed global rights to SPR2015, a preclinical KRAS G12D molecular glue inhibitor from China-based SciBrunch, paying $400 million up front. The deal follows reported failed M&A negotiations with Revolution Medicines in the $30 billion range, after that company reported in April that daraxonrasib led to a survival benefit in pancreatic cancer patients. Further deal terms for the SciBrunch agreement were not disclosed.
Merck has licensed exclusive global rights to SciBrunch Therapeutics' preclinical oral KRAS G12D (ON) inhibitor SPR2015, paying $400 million upfront with milestone payments that could bring the total to $2.13 billion. The deal has closed, and Merck recorded a pre-tax charge of $400 million, about 13 cents per share, in Q3. SciBrunch expects SPR2015 to enter human trials by the end of this year. The same day, Merck and Daiichi Sankyo withdrew an accelerated approval request for ifinatamab deruxtecan in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer after the FDA said the data did not support the filing.
