Pharmaceuticals & Biopharmaceuticals

Shanghai – September 26, 2026 -- A retrospective analysis of 102 multiple myeloma patients treated with IASO Bio's FUCASO CAR-T therapy found that patients maintaining sustained minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity showed a median CAR-T cell persistence of 463 days, compared with 272 days in patients who experienced MRD conversion — a gap of roughly 191 days. The data, drawn from the pivotal FUMANBA-1 registration study, were presented as a poster (Abstract No. PA-469) at the 2026 International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting.

San Mateo, Calif. – September 25, 2026 -- Kali Therapeutics has been named one of the 11 most promising private biotechnology companies in the 2026 Endpoints 11, a list curated annually by Endpoints News editors from hundreds of private candidates.

Kali advanced two clinical candidates and closed a Sanofi licensing deal in just over two years

Founded in July 2024, the clinical-stage biotech moved from formation to two molecules in the clinic and a worldwide partnership with Sanofi inside roughly two years. The honorees were announced Thursday, September 24, 2026, at an awards gala at The State Room in Boston.

Emeryville, Calif. – September 25, 2026 -- Slingshot Biosciences has appointed Dr. Nimisha Srivastava as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 23, 2026, elevating the company's former Chief Operating Officer to its top leadership post.

Srivastava succeeds Glenn Bilawsky as CEO of the flow cytometry controls maker

Glenn Bilawsky is transitioning out of the CEO role at Slingshot Biosciences, a company specializing in precision-engineered cell mimics used as reference materials in flow cytometry. The Board of Directors credited Bilawsky's leadership contributions during his tenure.

Jeollanam-do – September 25, 2026 -- Researchers at Chonnam National University have demonstrated that dichloromethane, a widely used industrial solvent, can directly drive amide bond formation between carboxylic acids and amines, offering manufacturers a cheaper and less hazardous alternative to conventional coupling reagents. The findings, led by Professor Sunwoo Lee of the Department of Chemistry, were published online on July 6, 2026, and appeared in Volume 148, Issue 27 of the Journal of the American Chemical Society on July 15, 2026.

Cambridge, Mass. – September 25, 2026 -- Zifo has been named runner-up in the 2026 CDISC AI Innovation Challenge for TLFGenix, its AI-driven pipeline for generating clinical trial tables, figures, and listings, marking the company's second consecutive year of recognition in the competition.

Zifo's TLFGenix converts statistical analysis plans into traceable clinical outputs

TLFGenix was recognized under Use Case 3: AI-Driven Tables, Figures, and Listings Generation, one of three use cases in the global competition. The system uses six specialized agents to digitize Statistical Analysis Plans into a structured logical model, profile ADaM datasets, generate an ARS-aligned analysis specification, produce R driver scripts, execute them in a network-isolated sandbox, and check schema and output consistency. Statisticians approve the analysis specification before code generation and sign off on each individual output.

Uppsala – September 25, 2026 -- Nanexa AB has signed a global exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk worth up to EUR 1.165 billion, granting the Danish pharmaceutical giant rights to the Swedish company's PharmaShell atomic layer deposition (ALD) drug delivery platform for peptide-based treatments in obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases.

Novo Nordisk gains rights to up to five development programs under the deal

The agreement covers formulations targeting monthly and quarterly administration frequencies, reducing dosing burden for chronic metabolic and cardiovascular disease patients. Novo Nordisk will lead global development and commercialization across all programs, while Nanexa retains eligibility for milestone-based payments tied to development, regulatory and sales achievements.

Shanghai – September 25, 2026 -- Nutshell Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. has received FDA clearance of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for NTS231, a covalent allosteric molecular glue degrader targeting NRF2, allowing the company to begin clinical development in the United States. NTS231 is the first NRF2 degrader originating from China and only the second such molecule worldwide to reach clinical-stage development.

Raritan, N.J. – September 25, 2026 -- Half of patients with early-line relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma treated with a single infusion of Johnson & Johnson's CARVYKTI® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) remained alive and progression-free for at least five years without maintenance therapy, according to new long-term data from the Phase 2 CARTITUDE-2 study.

Half of patients reach five-year progression-free survival without maintenance

In the initial subgroup of cohort A (N=20), 10 of 20 patients treated with a single CARVYKTI® infusion remained progression-free at a median follow-up of 60.7 months. Median progression-free survival reached 60.5 months, and the results were presented at the International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting (Abstract #PA-288). Cohort A enrolled patients who had received one to three prior lines of therapy, were exposed to a proteasome inhibitor, and were refractory to lenalidomide.

Copenhagen – September 25, 2026 -- H. Lundbeck A/S will relocate its US headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois, to Greater Boston, Massachusetts, establishing a global innovation hub in the region over the next year.

Lundbeck ties the move to the next phase of its Focused Innovator strategy

The Danish biopharmaceutical company said the relocation supports plans to scale its growing neuroscience portfolio, expand innovation opportunities and build out digital and AI capabilities. Charl van Zyl, President and CEO of Lundbeck, said the US has been a key driver of the company's commercial progress over the past three years, during which Lundbeck delivered growth, transformed its pipeline and applied disciplined capital allocation.

Stockholm – September 25, 2026 -- SciBase Holding AB's SEK 57.5 million rights issue is now fully covered after Bergs Securities AB confirmed a binding guarantee commitment of approximately SEK 24.2 million, equal to 42 percent of the offering.

Guarantee commitment converts letter of intent into binding coverage

Bergs Securities fulfilled on September 25, 2026, a guarantee intention it first announced on September 3, 2026, by delivering a formal guarantee confirmation to SciBase. The firm has backed the commitment with sub-guarantee agreements from a consortium of investors covering the full guaranteed amount.