SNAPSHOT

Repertoire and Eli Lilly partner to decode autoimmune disorders in $1.9B deal

Repertoire Immune Medicines has formed its biggest partnership yet, worth $1.9B, beating out its collaboration with BMS as well as Genentech and Pfizer. This partnership with Eli Lilly will use Repertoire’s Decode platform to develop new autoimmune therapies.

Why it matters: The deal validates Repertoire’s novel platform, which could shift autoimmune treatment from broad immunosuppression to precision, long-lasting therapies, potentially transforming care for millions.

Backstory: Repertoire is a Flagship Pioneering spinout founded in 2015. Its Decode platform, nine years in the making, identifies disease-driving epitopes and matching T-cell receptors, allowing for targeted intervention. Not only this, but Decode could have applications in oncology, as it can be applied to tumor-specific epitopes too.

Big picture: Autoimmune diseases affect over 50 million people in the U.S. alone. Most current treatments suppress the immune system broadly, risking side effects and weak remission. A targeted, tolerizing approach could be a breakthrough.

Zoom in: The deal consists of Lilly paying $85M upfront and up to $1.84B in milestone payments, plus royalties. Repertoire will lead drug candidate discovery using its Decode platform while Lilly takes over clinical development and commercialization.

What’s next: Repertoire will nominate development candidates under the new deal while maintaining its steady team of 85 employees. No IPO is planned, but a private funding round may happen in 2026.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

💥B-strain bust: Sanofi has halted development of its next-generation mRNA-based seasonal flu vaccine, marking a strategic shift away from this specific program despite continued investment in mRNA technology overall. The decision, disclosed in the company’s 2025 earnings report, follows challenges with early candidates that showed limited efficacy against influenza B strains. Sanofi emphasized its ongoing commitment to mRNA with a separate H5 pandemic flu vaccine in phase 1/2 trials and reaffirmed its focus on existing flu products like Fluzone High-Dose and Flublok. While political factors influenced peers like Moderna, Sanofi denied such influence, instead citing market conditions and evolving U.S. vaccination trends.

🏳️ RIPK1 retreat: Sanofi has also quietly ended development of eclitasertib, its final RIPK1 inhibitor from a long-standing collaboration with Denali Therapeutics, after a failed phase 2 trial in ulcerative colitis, casting doubt on the future of the $125 million partnership. Despite repeated setbacks, including earlier failures with oditrasertib and an abandoned lead candidate due to toxicity, Sanofi declined to confirm whether the alliance is now over. The company also dropped three other early-stage assets: a BCMA-targeting NK cell engager, a brain-shuttled Parkinson’s antibody, and the mRNA flu vaccine mentioned above. It’s not spring yet, but Sanofi is already cleaning its pipeline.

🪙 Cancer cash: Eikon Therapeutics aims to raise $273.5M through its upcoming IPO by offering over 17.6 million shares at $17 each, with a potential maximum haul of $317.7M if shares are sold at $18. The company’s underwriters may also purchase an additional 2.6 million shares. If successful, Eikon will be the second biotech to go public in 2026 in the US, following Aktis Oncology. Led by former Merck executive Roger Perlmutter, Eikon has raised over $1B to date and will use the Nasdaq debut to support four clinical-stage cancer drugs, despite laying off 15% of staff in 2025 due to reduced government funding.

👁️ Eye drop: Tenpoint Therapeutics has received FDA approval for YUVEZZI, the first fixed-dose combination eye drop for presbyopia, and simultaneously secured $235 million in funding to support its launch, with $85M from a Series B round and $150M in debt financing. Developed from Visus’ former lead candidate BRIMOCHOL PF, YUVEZZI combines carbachol and brimonidine tartrate to constrict and maintain pupil size, enhancing near vision for up to eight hours without compromising distance vision. Backed by positive phase 3 results and a strong safety profile, YUVEZZI enters a growing market alongside products like AbbVie’s Vuity and Orasis’ Qlosi, aiming to differentiate through improved durability and tolerability.

⚡CER‑T spark: CERo has reported encouraging early data from its phase 1 CertainT‑1 trial evaluating CER‑1236, a first-in-human chimeric engulfment receptor T‑cell (CER‑T) therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In the first patient cohort, the therapy showed cell expansion with no treatment-related adverse events, cytokine release syndrome, or ICANS, indicating a favorable initial safety profile. One patient with advanced disease achieved a 61-day platelet transfusion-free interval, exceeding standard benchmarks. Based on these results, CERo has expanded the trial to include advanced myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myelofibrosis. CER‑1236 combines adaptive and innate immune functions, aiming to overcome challenges faced by conventional CAR‑T therapies in myeloid cancers.

TOUR OPERATOR

Upcoming events

• 🇳🇱 Amsterdam, 3-4 March 2026 - BioCapital

• 🇪🇸 Barcelona, 10-12 March 2026 - Bioprocessing Summit Europe

• 🇳🇱 Utrecht, 26 March 2026 - Innovation for Health

• 🇦🇹 Vienna, 27-30 March 2026 - BioProcess International

• 🇩🇪 Munich, 17-21 April - ESCMID Global

• 🇺🇸 San Diego, 17-22 April 2026 - AACR Annual Meeting

• 🇩🇪 Leipzig, 21-22 April 2026 - German Biotech Days

• 🇨🇳 Shanghai, 28-29 April 2026 - ChinaBio

• 🇸🇦 Riyadh, 11-13 May 2026 - BIO Middle East

• 🇩🇪 Berlin, 09 – 11 June 2026 - bio:cap