Daily Snap - 11. November 2025

Author

Joachim Eeckhout
November 11, 2025

 

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Good morning! AI drug discovery just got a double dose of news today. Iambic Therapeutics raised over $100 million in fresh capital to advance its AI-discovered cancer drugs and it’s already putting that cash to work. The biotech recently teamed up with Jazz Therapeutics to test its HER2-targeted small molecule alongside Jazz’s bispecific antibody, after early data showed signs of activity across several HER2-driven tumors. Not to be outdone, Eli Lilly also announced a $100M+ collaboration with Insilico Medicine, expanding an earlier partnership to use Insilico’s Pharma.AI platform to design new drugs from scratch. This deal adds to a busy week for Lilly, which has formed two other partnerships (non-AI related), details of which can be found below.

Enjoy today’s read!

—Joachim E.

PRESENTED BY BMG LABTECH

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SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🍽️ Metabolic boost: And to finish with Eli Lilly, the company has entered a collaboration with SanegeneBio valued at up to $1.2 billion to advance RNA interference (RNAi) therapies for metabolic diseases. The deal centers on Sanegene’s Ligand and Enhancer Assisted Delivery (LEAD) platform, which aims to enable tissue-specific delivery of RNAi treatments with infrequent dosing. Under the agreement, Sanegene will identify optimized RNAi molecules for several undisclosed metabolic targets, after which Lilly will lead further development. In return, Lilly is providing an upfront payment, an equity investment, and potential milestone payments. This partnership bolsters Lilly’s expanding RNA therapeutics strategy and its already robust metabolic drug portfolio.

🧠 MS milestone: Roche has reported positive phase 3 results for its BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib in two multiple sclerosis (MS) trials, marking a notable success where several competitors have stumbled. In the Fenhance study for relapsing MS, fenebrutinib significantly reduced the annualized relapse rate compared to Sanofi’s Aubagio, meeting the primary endpoint. In the Fentrepid trial for primary progressive MS (PPMS), the drug showed noninferiority to Roche’s own Ocrevus in delaying confirmed disability progression over 120 weeks. Safety findings, including liver data, were consistent with earlier studies, and full results will be presented at future medical meetings.

💸 $10M saved: AnaptysBio has discontinued development of its PD-1 agonist rosnilimab for ulcerative colitis after the drug failed to demonstrate efficacy in a phase 2 trial involving 136 patients. Clinical remission rates for both dosing regimens were lower than placebo, and while some improvement was observed between weeks 12 and 24, results did not meet the company’s six-month efficacy goals. Despite being well tolerated, the drug's underperformance follows a prior phase 2 success in rheumatoid arthritis, for which Anaptys plans to provide an update in 2026. The move will save approximately $10 million as the company prepares to split into two separate public entities next year.

😮‍💨 Pressure’s off: AstraZeneca’s aldosterone synthase inhibitor baxdrostat achieved a 14 mmHg placebo-adjusted reduction in systolic blood pressure over 12 weeks in the phase 3 Bax24 trial, demonstrating strong efficacy in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension. The drug also showed significant reductions in nighttime and seated systolic blood pressure, reinforcing its potential clinical value. With a longer half-life than competitor lorundrostat, baxdrostat may offer a pharmacological advantage, as AstraZeneca aims to differentiate it in a competitive market.

💡Getting the GIST: Cogent Biosciences has reported a phase 3 success for its lead candidate, bezuclastinib, in combination with sunitinib for treating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in patients resistant or intolerant to Novartis’ Gleevec, achieving a 46% objective response rate versus 26% with sunitinib alone. The combination also extended median progression-free survival to 16.5 months from 9.2 months with monotherapy, with no unexpected safety issues. Based on these results from the 442-patient PEAK trial, Cogent plans to submit for FDA approval in the first half of 2026. The company is also advancing bezuclastinib in systemic mastocytosis and pursuing additional oncology programs in early-stage trials.

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