Biopharmaceuticals

Columbia, Md. – September 29, 2026 -- The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has awarded more than $4.8 million through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) in the first funding cycle of fiscal year 2027, backing 15 investigators across the state's regenerative medicine sector.

Applications for MSCRF funding continue to exceed available resources

Requested funding significantly outstripped the capital available for this cycle, according to the Commission, reflecting both the depth of Maryland's research base and a rising number of technologies advancing past early discovery into validation, clinical development and manufacturing—stages that require substantially more capital.

Dallas – – September 29, 2026 -- MassChallenge, ranked the No. 2 accelerator in the U.S. by TIME and Statista, has named Dallas its second U.S. headquarters, backed by a renewed two-year grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies. The investment extends a five-year partnership at Pegasus Park and will fund two ten-week accelerator tracks in Health & Life Sciences and Security & Resiliency, plus Founder Access Clinics connecting early-stage founders with academic, clinical and corporate stakeholders.

Texas applications to MassChallenge grew more than fivefold since 2022

Texas-based applications to MassChallenge's national programs have risen over five times since 2022, while annual innovation-event attendance approaches 1,000. The grant will also support INNOVATE '26, MassChallenge's flagship Dallas convening scheduled for November 17 at Pegasus Park.

Milwaukee – September 29, 2026 -- PBS Biotech has embedded Rockwell Automation technology into its MiniPRO multi-parallel bioreactor platform, a system with up to 24 independently controlled bioreactors designed to speed cell therapy process development and reduce risk during scale-up to commercial manufacturing.

Platform integrates FactoryTalk software with PlantPAx distributed control

The MiniPRO uses Rockwell's FactoryTalk software and Process Library to deliver real-time process control within an automation environment that can integrate directly into a larger PlantPAx distributed control system used to run an entire cell-therapy facility. Rockwell Automation, headquartered in Milwaukee and employing roughly 26,000 people across more than 100 countries as of fiscal year 2025, positions the collaboration as a way to standardize automation across development and GMP manufacturing stages.

New York City – – September 29, 2026 -- Demy-Colton has released the agenda for BioFuture 2026, a two-day conference set for October 27–28 at Cure, 345 Park Avenue South, drawing more than 100 speakers and over 50 presenting companies from biopharma, investment, technology and policy sectors.

Conference agenda spans AI, oncology, biotech financing and global drug development

Speakers include representatives from Johnson & Johnson, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Schrödinger, Piper Sandler and Mizuho Securities. Sponsors backing the event include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Russo Partners, WuXi AppTec, Blue Matter, Cure, Evotec, Ipsen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Big4Bio, HMA Consulting, Withum and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader.

Staten Island, N.Y. – September 29, 2026 -- Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACXP) has enrolled the first patient in its PATHFINDER clinical trial evaluating ibezapolstat in patients with multiply-recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI), a condition affecting up to 40% of patients treated with vancomycin after multiple prior episodes.

Fully funded pilot trial targets approximately 20 patients with severe recurrence history

The Phase 2 PATHFINDER study is a multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial enrolling patients who have experienced at least three CDI episodes within the past 12 months. Participants receive ibezapolstat for 14 days, with assessments for Clinical Cure at Day 16, Sustained Clinical Cure at Day 42, and recurrence rates tracked through Week 24.

Indianapolis – September 29, 2026 -- Eli Lilly and Company said a new indirect treatment comparison shows Zepbound (tirzepatide) 15 mg produced 4.5% greater body-weight loss than Novo Nordisk's Wegovy HD (semaglutide 7.2 mg) in adults with obesity, intensifying the competitive battle in the obesity-drug market. The 10 mg dose of Zepbound delivered 3.2% greater weight reduction than Wegovy HD, according to data presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan.

Calgary – September 29, 2026 -- Providence Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. has formed its first Clinical Advisory Board to guide development of its therapeutic mRNA cancer vaccine programs, including a personalized vaccine for pediatric brain cancer and off-the-shelf precision therapies for solid tumors.

Chief Medical Officer Leon Rozen chairs new four-member advisory panel

Dr. Rozen leads the board, which brings in Ezra Cohen, MD; Melinda Merchant, MD, PhD; and John Powderly, MD, to steer clinical strategy for the company's cancer vaccine pipeline.

Tempus AI oncology chief joins board with immunotherapy track record

Ezra Cohen currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Oncology at Tempus AI. He previously held roles as Professor of Medicine and Division Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego.

Plainsboro, N.J. – – September 29, 2026 -- Novo Nordisk reported that adults with type 2 diabetes who escalated their semaglutide dose to 2 mg showed a statistically significant 6% lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared with patients who switched to tirzepatide, according to real-world data presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting 2026 in Milan.

Retrospective analysis covers 636,525 patients on semaglutide 1 mg

The COMPETE SWITCH Cardiovascular study used Komodo Health's Healthcare Map claims database, spanning January 2018 to September 2025, to compare outcomes for patients escalating from semaglutide 1 mg to 2 mg against those switching to tirzepatide at doses up to 15 mg. The cardiovascular cohort included 185,705 adults who escalated to semaglutide 2 mg and 23,104 who switched to tirzepatide, tracked via an intention-to-treat approach for death, heart attack, and stroke.

Washington, D.C. – September 29, 2026 -- LUNGevity Foundation has committed $2 million to fund two three-year clinical research projects aimed at improving the diagnosis of indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs), a condition affecting more than 1.5 million Americans annually after routine chest CT scans.

The funding, awarded through the 2026 RTFCCR/LUNGevity Early Detection Award in partnership with the Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research (RTFCCR), targets a diagnostic gap that currently forces many patients into unnecessary invasive procedures or prolonged uncertainty when non-invasive tools fail to determine whether a lung nodule is benign or malignant.

San Francisco – September 29, 2026 -- Innovent Biologics reported an 84.6% overall response rate for its trispecific antibody IBI3003 at the recommended Phase 2 dose in heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients, data presented in an oral session at the 23rd International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting 2026.

Trial identifies 360 μg/kg as the optimal dose after testing three dose levels

Among 26 patients treated at 360 μg/kg with a median follow-up of 7.57 months, median progression-free survival has not yet been reached. The cohort produced 11 stringent complete responses, 4 very good partial responses, and 7 partial responses. Response rates climbed to 94.7% among 19 patients who had received only 2 to 4 prior lines of therapy, and 92.3% among 13 patients without extramedullary disease.