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  • Asahi Kasei ́s buys Germany’s Aicuris for $920M & Boehringer signs a $500M deal with UK-based Sitryx

Asahi Kasei ́s buys Germany’s Aicuris for $920M & Boehringer signs a $500M deal with UK-based Sitryx

AuthorAuthor

Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
February 27, 2026

 

Good morning! The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is committing up to $144 million over five years to anti-aging research through a new initiative called PROSPR (short for PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience). Seven teams, including Linnaeus Therapeutics, Cambrian BioPharma and Apollo Alpha, will pursue biomarkers, interventions and trial designs aimed at extending “healthspan.”

Why it matters: ARPA-H’s director, Alicia Jackson, has made aging a priority and framed it as an economic one. She argues that reversing biological age by just one year could unlock trillions in healthcare savings for the U.S.

Bottom line: After billionaires and tech founders, it’s Washington’s turn to fund the longevity dream.

— Joachim E.

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SNAPSHOT

Asahi Kasei’s antiviral pipeline is set to leap forward with $920M acquisition of Germany’s Aicuris

Asahi Kasei will acquire German biotech Aicuris for €780M ($920M), adding approved and late-stage antiviral therapies to its R&D portfolio.

Why it matters: The deal strengthens Asahi’s position in treatments for immunocompromised patients, a high-need, high-value market, and deepens its pipeline with revenue-generating and phase 3-ready assets.

Backstory: Aicuris spun out of Bayer in 2006 and raised $75M by 2010 to develop antiviral and antibacterial drugs. In 2012, it partnered with Merck to commercialize Prevymis, a transplant infection prevention drug approved by the FDA in 2017. Prevymis generated $978M last year, ranking as Merck’s ninth-highest-grossing product.

Big picture: The acquisition reflects a resurgence in biotech M&A, as large pharma and healthcare companies snap up de-risked or late-stage assets to fuel growth.

Zoom in: Asahi’s U.S. unit, Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, will execute the deal, marking Asahi’s second acquisition in under two years, following its purchase of Calliditas Therapeutics in 2024. The purchase adds a herpes simplex therapy with positive phase 3 data and a phase 2-ready BK virus candidate for kidney transplant patients. The assets target complications tied to stem cell transplants, solid organ transplants and other immunological conditions.

What’s next: The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Asahi aims to accelerate Aicuris’ U.S. launch readiness and advance regulatory filings, including a potential FDA submission for the HSV therapy.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

 🤝 Immuno deal: Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a deal worth up to $500M with UK-based biotech Sitryx for an exclusive global license to a preclinical small molecule inhibitor program targeting autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Sitryx is eligible for upfront, milestone, and royalty payments. The program aims to deliver a novel oral, precision approach to modulating immune cells. Founded in 2018, Sitryx focuses on immunometabolism and previously partnered with Eli Lilly, which later returned one of its phase 1 assets. The agreement adds to Boehringer’s recent dealmaking activity and supports its strategy to advance first-in-class immunology therapies addressing unmet medical needs.

 📈 Survival boost: A phase 3 trial in China has shown that Bristol Myers Squibb’s EGFR×HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate, izalontamab brengitecan (iza-bren), significantly improved progression-free and overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients with previously treated, unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, meeting its dual primary endpoints. BMS paid $800M upfront in 2023 to SystImmune for ex-China rights to the candidate, marking its entry into the ADC field. While detailed data have not yet been released, the results add to prior late-stage successes in other cancers in China and further validate BMS’ investment as it advances its own global trials in breast cancer.

🎂 Profitability anniversary: argenx announced positive phase 3 results from the ADAPT OCULUS trial of VYVGART in ocular myasthenia gravis (oMG) alongside its first full year of operating profitability, highlighting both clinical and financial momentum. In the trial, VYVGART significantly improved ocular symptoms versus placebo at Week 4, with no new safety concerns, supporting a planned supplemental FDA filing to expand the drug’s label into oMG, a segment with no approved targeted therapies. Financially, argenx reported $4.2B in 2025 net sales, 90% year-over-year growth, and $1.1B in operating income, marking its first profitable year as it continues broadening its immunology pipeline and MG franchise.

⚠️ Safety snag: Accent Therapeutics has discontinued its phase 1/2 trial of ATX-559, an oral DHX9 inhibitor for BRCA1/2-deficient and MSI-H/dMMR solid tumors, due to adverse events and is now evaluating strategic options for the program. The biotech is shifting focus to its other lead candidate, ATX-295, a KIF18A inhibitor currently in a phase 1/2 study for platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer, with plans to expand into additional tumor types. Accent said the decision has not resulted in layoffs. Founded in 2018, the company has raised significant venture funding and secured major pharma partnerships to advance RNA-targeted cancer therapies.

🔒 HIV control: Gilead has reported positive phase 3 results from its ARTISTRY-1 and ARTISTRY-2 trials showing that an investigational combination of bictegravir (75 mg) and lenacapavir (50 mg) maintained viral suppression in adults with HIV who switched from either complex multi-tablet regimens or the single-tablet therapy Biktarvy. At week 48, rates of HIV-1 RNA ≥50 copies/mL were low and comparable between the investigational regimen and comparator groups, with no new safety concerns identified. Presented at CROI 2026 and published in The Lancet, the data support the potential of the combination as an alternative option for virologically suppressed patients, and Gilead plans to seek regulatory approval.

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