SNAPSHOT

Yarrow strikes $1.37B deal for China-developed thyroid drug

Yarrow Bioscience has licensed ex-China rights to GS-098, a potential first-in-class autoimmune thyroid drug, in a deal with China’s GenSci worth up to $1.37B.

Why it matters: This move gives Yarrow a promising lead asset and accelerates the global race to develop innovative treatments for Graves’ disease and thyroid eye disease, areas with significant unmet need.

Backstory: GS-098 was developed by Scizeng Medical, a GenSci subsidiary. The drug targets the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR), an emerging therapeutic focus in autoimmune thyroid disorders. GS-098 (also named YB-101) works by binding to TSHR to block harmful autoantibody activity, suppress thyroid hormone production, and reduce inflammation.

Big picture: The TSHR is becoming more competitive with companies like Crinetics, Merida, Septerna at the preclinical stage, and Ollin Biosciences, which recently launched with $100M and a preclinical TSHR/IGF-1R bispecific antibody.

What's next: Yarrow will spearhead GS-098’s development outside China, advancing it through clinical trials targeting U.S. and global markets. The company will pay $70M upfront, plus $50M in near-term milestones, in a deal that could total $1.37B with tiered royalties on sales outside China.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

💸 Pharma spending: Sanofi announced a licensing deal worth up to $1.04B with South Korean biotech Adel for exclusive global rights to ADEL-Y01, a humanized monoclonal antibody therapy targeting Alzheimer's disease. Sanofi will pay $80M upfront and may owe additional milestone payments and royalties. ADEL-Y01 is currently in a global Phase 1 trial, targeting tau protein acetylated at lysine-280 to prevent toxic aggregation while preserving normal function. The deal marks Sanofi’s second biotech agreement this week, following an expanded partnership with Dren Bio on autoimmune therapies, amid setbacks for its MS drug tolebrutinib.

 ⛏️ Digging up zombies: Xoma Royalty, known for acquiring underperforming biotech firms, announced plans to acquire Generation Bio for $4.29 per share, below its prior closing price (paying about $29M for the company), with added contingent value rights that may offer future payouts based on assets and cash at closing. Generation Bio, which raised $200M in its 2020 IPO, struggled after delays in developing its non-viral gene therapy delivery platform using lipid nanoparticles. Despite a partnership with Moderna and some promising preclinical data, the company faced major setbacks, including massive layoffs. The deal fits Xoma's strategy of targeting “zombie” biotechs with valuable but early-stage assets.

🤝 Cancer collaboration: Roche’s Genentech has entered a multi-year cancer research collaboration with Caris Life Sciences, potentially worth up to $1.1B ($25M in upfront and near-term payments + future milestones and royalties). The partnership focuses on discovering and validating new oncology targets in solid tumors, leveraging Caris’ AI-powered multimodal database and its collection of nearly 500,000 tumor samples. The goal is to develop first-in-class precision cancer therapies.

🎯 GPCR goals: MapLight Therapeutics has entered a strategic collaboration with Alphabet’s spinout SandboxAQ to discover new therapies for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, focusing on a novel G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target. While financial terms include an undisclosed upfront payment, SandboxAQ may receive up to $200M in milestone payments tied to preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial progress. The companies will jointly conduct preclinical research, after which MapLight will lead clinical development and commercialization. This deal adds to SandboxAQ’s growing presence in biopharma, leveraging its AI-powered AQBioSim platform, while MapLight continues advancing its own CNS pipeline, including Phase 2 trials for schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s.

🎯 Missed endpoint: Nektar Therapeutics' stock fell 5% after its Phase 2b REZOLVE-AA trial of rezpegaldesleukin for alopecia areata narrowly missed its primary endpoint, despite showing a treatment effect more than double that of placebo. The study's 36-week SALT score reductions were 28.2% and 30.3% in the two treatment arms versus 11.2% for placebo, but neither reached statistical significance. However, excluding four patients with eligibility violations, both arms achieved significance. The drug was well-tolerated with minimal adverse events, and Nektar plans to advance it to Phase 3, supported by a Fast Track designation. Full results and extension data are expected in 2026.

SNAP AGAIN

Aviceda’s lead eye drug misses key trial goal but heads to Phase 3 anyway

Aviceda’s geographic atrophy (GA) drug AVD-104 failed to match Astellas’ Izervay in a phase 2 trial, but the company still plans two phase 3 trials in 2026.

Why it matters: GA is an advanced form of dry-aged macular degeneration and a major cause of vision loss with few treatment options. Despite the trial miss, Aviceda sees enough promise in its drug to advance toward late-stage trials, potentially offering a new approach for patients.

Backstory: AVD-104, a nanoparticle therapy designed to curb inflammation by targeting immune cells, showed a 31% reduction in lesion growth compared to sham data, but not enough to prove non-inferiority to Izervay.

Zoom in: The 300-patient phase 2 trial showed no significant differences in lesion growth among the AVD-104 and Izervay groups. AVD-104 had no serious safety issues; the most common side effect was floaters. Patients on AVD-104 read 0.6 more letters on average after 12 months.

Big picture: GA remains a challenging disease for drug developers. Several candidates from major players, including Roche and Novartis, have failed in recent years. Current FDA-approved drugs, Apellis’ Syfovre and Astellas’ Izervay, don’t restore vision and have side effects like inflammation.

What's next: The company has raised $207M to support its upcoming phase 3 efforts. Aviceda will launch two sham-controlled Phase 3 trials in 2026, aiming to validate AVD-104’s efficacy and safety.

TOUR OPERATOR

Upcoming events

• 🇺🇸 San Francisco, 10 January 2026 - Sachs Annual Oncology Innovation Forum

• 🇬🇧 London, 19 January 2026 - Bioseed

• 🇩🇪 Heidelberg, 4 February 2026- Life, the biomedical convention

• 🇦🇪 Dubai, 9-12 February 2026, WHX Dubai

• 🇩🇪 Göttingen, 19 February 2026 - Life Science Start-up Day

• 🇬🇧 London, 24-25 February 2026 - World ADC London 2026

• 🇳🇱 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