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  • Cytospire raises $83M to advance its gamma-delta T-cell engagers & Madrigal deepens its MASH pipeline with $1B Arrowhead deal

Cytospire raises $83M to advance its gamma-delta T-cell engagers & Madrigal deepens its MASH pipeline with $1B Arrowhead deal

AuthorAuthor

Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
May 06, 2026

Good morning. New data on the Swiss biotech industry came out just as I was returning from Swiss Biotech Day. Funding for privately held Swiss biotechs reached a new high last year, rising 38% to CHF 1.15 billion ($1.5 billion). However, the five largest rounds accounted for 46% of the total, once again showing biotech’s shift toward larger rounds for a small group of standout companies. Biotech funding in 2025 is a bit like Swiss chocolate: excellent, but increasingly concentrated.

— Joachim E.

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SNAPSHOT

Cytospire raises $83M series A to advance gamma-delta T-cell engagers for solid tumors

Cytospire Therapeutics Ltd raised a £61 million ($83m) Series A to advance its pan-gamma-delta T-cell engager pipeline into cancer clinical trials.

Why it matters: T-cell engagers have transformed some blood cancer treatments, but solid tumors remain hard to treat because CD3-targeting approaches can broadly activate T cells and trigger serious toxicities. Cytospire’s approach could offer a safer way to attack solid tumors by harnessing gamma-delta T cells, which may better distinguish malignant from healthy cells.

Backstory: Cytospire builds on earlier work from GammaDelta Therapeutics and Adaptate Biotherapeutics, both backed by Abingworth and later acquired by Takeda. Cytospire CEO Natalie Mount previously helped lead those gamma-delta T-cell programs.

Big picture: The field is searching for better immune-cell targets for solid tumors. Earlier gamma-delta T-cell engager developers, including Lava Therapeutics, focused largely on variable delta 2 cells, which are more common in blood. Cytospire is taking a broader “pan-gamma-delta” strategy that targets variable delta 1, 2 and 3 cells, including forms found in tumors and tissues.

Zoom in: Cytospire’s lead candidate, CYT X300, is designed to bind an epitope found across gamma-delta T cells and EGFR, a receptor expressed in multiple solid tumors. In non-human primate studies, CYT X300 was well tolerated and avoided severe toxicities associated with EGFRxCD3 T-cell engagers.

What’s next: Cytospire plans to use the Series A funding to move CYT X300 into clinical trials and generate clinical proof-of-concept data.

SNAP AGAIN

Madrigal deepens its MASH pipeline with a $1B deal for Arrowhead’s once-rejected RNAi asset

An arrows displayed in a museum

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is paying Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals $25 million upfront and $975 million in potential additional payments for exclusive rights to ARO-PNPLA3, a precision RNAi therapy for genetically defined MASH patients.

Why it matters: The deal shows Madrigal is not relying solely on Rezdiffra, the first FDA-approved metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) therapy, and is moving aggressively to build a broader, combination-friendly franchise in fatty liver disease.

Backstory: ARO-PNPLA3 was previously part of Arrowhead’s larger $3.7 billion partnership with Johnson & Johnson, but J&J returned the asset during a 2023 pipeline restructuring. Madrigal is now betting the drug’s early clinical signal is strong enough to revive its prospects.

Zoom in: ARO-PNPLA3 targets liver expression of PNPLA3, a gene linked to MASH progression. In phase 1 data, patients homozygous for the PNPLA3 I148M mutation saw a 46% reduction in liver fat after one dose, with reductions appearing within six weeks and lasting at least 24 weeks. Madrigal says about 30% of MASH patients with moderate to advanced fibrosis carry two copies of this mutation, which is especially common in Hispanic populations.

Big picture: The deal follows Madrigal’s recent $4.4 billion pact with Ribo Life Science and Ribocure for six preclinical siRNA programs, plus a $50 million Pfizer deal for a DGAT2 inhibitor. Arrowhead, meanwhile, continues expanding its RNAi platform beyond liver disease, including rare metabolic disease and obesity programs.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🚪 CD47 exit: Pfizer has abandoned maplirpacept, the last clinical-stage CD47 inhibitor from its $2.3 billion Trillium Therapeutics acquisition, effectively ending hopes of value from the 2021 deal after ontorpacept was dropped last year. The company said the decision was portfolio-related, not due to safety, regulatory, or study conduct issues. CD47 remains an unproven cancer target, with no approved drugs despite major industry investment, including Gilead’s failed magrolimab program. Pfizer also discontinued PF-08046052, its only listed clinical-stage T-cell engager, citing business reasons, and scrapped an acne drug candidate, PF-07905428, based on phase 1 results and pipeline prioritization.

🏆 TED win: Viridian Therapeutics reported a second phase 3 success for elegrobart, its self-administered subcutaneous anti-IGF-1R antibody for thyroid eye disease (TED) an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks tissues behind the eye, creating abnormal protrusion of one or both eyeballs (proptosis). In a 204-patient chronic TED trial, both four-week and eight-week elegrobart dosing met the FDA primary endpoint for proptosis reduction at Week 24, with response rates of 50% and 54% versus 15% for placebo. Results for double vision were mixed, with only the four-week regimen showing significant response and neither dose achieving significant complete resolution. Despite this setback, the result strengthens Viridian’s plan to seek FDA approval in early 2027 and challenge Amgen’s blockbuster Tepezza.

🫁 mRNA wheeze: Vertex Pharmaceuticals has discontinued development of VX-522, an inhaled mRNA therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) partnered with Moderna, after persistent tolerability problems halted its phase 1/2 trial. The issue, identified as lung inflammation likely linked to the lipid nanoparticle delivery system, could not be resolved despite trial adjustments, preventing Vertex from assessing the drug’s efficacy or full safety. VX-522 was designed to deliver mRNA encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein for patients who cannot benefit from existing CFTR-enhancing drugs. Moderna said the program was its only inhaled therapeutic approach and had no broader portfolio implications, while Vertex said it remains committed to developing treatments for all CF patients.

💩 Gut gold: Kanvas Biosciences has raised $48 million to develop microbiome-based therapies inspired by a cancer survivor whose gut bacteria appeared to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Researchers identified around 50 bacterial strains from her stool that may have enabled her recovery from advanced colorectal cancer and recreated this microbial community in pill form. The company plans clinical trials for cancer and related conditions, while also advancing treatments for immunotherapy-induced colitis and malnutrition in partnership with the Gates Foundation.

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