• Biotech Snap
  • Posts
  • Alnylam and Tenaya sign $1B+ heart disease deal & Atavistik raises $160M to advance rare blood disorders treatments

Alnylam and Tenaya sign $1B+ heart disease deal & Atavistik raises $160M to advance rare blood disorders treatments

AuthorAuthor

Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
March 06, 2026

Good morning! Moderna just paid to make an mRNA headache go away. The biotech agreed to a settlement worth up to $2.25B to end its long-running patent dispute with Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant over lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology used in its mRNA vaccines. Moderna will pay $950M upfront and is appealing an additional $1.3B tied to potential further payouts. After the initial lump sum, Moderna won’t owe ongoing royalties on its mRNA vaccine sales.

Why it matters: With COVID vaccine revenue down, avoiding a larger payout and future royalties helps protect cash and future margins. Arbutus and Genevant are also suing Pfizer and BioNTech over similar LNP patent claims tied to their COVID vaccine, so the broader LNP legal fight isn’t over.

Bottom line: Speed won the pandemic; patent lawyers are now collecting the interests.

— Joachim E.

Don’t keep this newsletter a secret: Forward Biotech Snap to a friend!

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

SNAPSHOT

Alnylam and Tenaya strike potential $1B+ partnership to uncover new genetic targets for heart disease

Handshake

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has partnered with Tenaya Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $1.13B, with a $10M upfront payment, to identify and validate new genetic targets for cardiovascular diseases, combining Tenaya’s discovery platform with Alnylam’s RNA interference (RNAi) drug development expertise.

Why it matters: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally. This partnership aims to accelerate the development of disease-modifying treatments by targeting the genetic drivers of heart disease, potentially opening the door to more precise and transformative therapies.

Backstory: Tenaya’s pipeline includes gene therapy and gene editing programs targeting both rare and common heart diseases. Its clinical-stage assets include TN-201 for MYBPC3-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and TN-401 for PKP2-associated arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Meanwhile, Alnylam already has a foothold in the cardiovascular space with its approved RNAi therapy Amvuttra for ATTR cardiomyopathy and a pipeline including nucresiran, currently in Phase 3 trials for the same indication.

Big picture: The deal arrives amid a wave of cardiovascular activity. Corsera Health raised $80M last month to develop siRNA therapies in cardiovascular indications. Also last month, Eli Lilly offered $100M for CSL’s IL-6 blocker to bolster its cardiovascular pipeline.

What’s next: Tenaya will begin identifying and validating genetic targets for up to 15 cardiovascular programs during the collaboration’s two-year validation phase, after which Alnylam will advance selected candidates into development.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🔬 AKT attack: Atavistik Bio has raised $160M in a Series B funding round led by investors including RA Capital Management and Regeneron Ventures to advance treatments for rare blood disorders and cancers. The funding will support clinical development of ATV-1601, an oral drug targeting the AKT1 enzyme, which the company plans to test in humans for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) later this year. Unlike traditional drugs that bind to active protein sites, Atavistik designs medicines that act on harder-to-find allosteric sites to more precisely control protein function. The company believes this approach could address disease causes more effectively and with fewer side effects, and it is also developing a selective JAK2 inhibitor for bone marrow cancers.

🧹 Spring cleaning: Merck KGaA has cut several programs from its research pipeline following a strategic review, including two cancer drug candidates obtained through its acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics and the PARP1 inhibitor M9466 licensed from Hengrui. The company is no longer pursuing studies of Ogsiveo (nirogacestat) for ovarian granulosa cell tumors or the Hippo pathway inhibitor SW-682, though some investigator-initiated research may continue. Ogsiveo remains approved for desmoid tumors and generated €134 million in sales in 2025.

⏸️ Trial pause: PepGen’s Phase 2 clinical trial of its experimental myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) therapy, PGN-EDODM1, has been partially placed on hold by the U.S. FDA, preventing the enrollment of U.S. patients while the study continues in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea. The FDA’s concern relates not to human trial data but to earlier mouse studies showing drops in blood pressure, even though such effects have not been observed in patients. Analysts described the hold as a “surprise,” since the agency had received the mouse data in 2024 and likely reexamined it when PepGen sought to expand the trial to U.S. sites. PepGen says it is working with regulators to resolve the issue, though the news caused its shares to drop nearly 20%.

🧫 Cell scale: Lemang Biotech, a Chinese cell therapy company, has raised nearly 200 million yuan ($28 million) in a financing round led by Yuecai Zhongyin and AI drug discovery firm XtalPi, with participation from several new and existing investors. The funding will support a Phase I registration study of Lemang’s metabolism-enhanced CAR-T therapy, which is designed to work at ultra-low doses, and help expand automated manufacturing capabilities. The company also plans to advance its cell therapy programs targeting solid tumors toward clinical trials, aiming to improve the effectiveness and scalability of CAR-T treatments.

💰Korea cash: Roche has committed about 710 billion won ($484 million) to South Korea’s biopharma sector through a memorandum of understanding with the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, aiming to build a global clinical trial ecosystem and strengthen research capabilities. The investment will support clinical trial infrastructure, talent development, and innovation in drug development, aligning with South Korea’s broader push to expand its biopharmaceutical industry. South Korea’s pharma market, valued at about $27 billion in 2024 and projected to reach nearly $54 billion by 2032, already benefits from strong manufacturing and research capacity, with companies like Samsung Biologics and Celltrion playing major roles.

TOUR OPERATOR

Upcoming events

What did you think of today's newsletter?

Your feedback helps us create the best newsletter possible.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Share the Snap!

Know someone who’d enjoy this? Hit forward and pass it along.