Pharmaphorum

AI-powered drug discovery company Iambic Therapeutics has announced the terms of its Nasdaq IPO, pitching at a valuation of more than $800 million if all goes through as planned. The NVIDIA-backed company, based in San Diego, is planning to offer 9.38 million shares at between $15 and $17 each, which would generate proceeds of $135 million to $160 million, according to an SEC filing.

News Matchpoint Therapeutics is preparing to take its oral T cell modulator through proof-of-concept clinical testing in immunology and inflammation (I&I) diseases, with the help of a $150 million Series B financing. Watertown, Massachusetts-headquartered Matchpoint is focusing its initial efforts on preclinical-stage covalent drug candidate MPT-062, which it thinks could be a first-in-class therapy for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

News argenx's CD122 inhibitor FB102, added to its pipeline through the $2.2 billion acquisition of Forte Biosciences, will move into phase 3 development for coeliac disease after showing efficacy in a mid-stage trial.

As it waits for an FDA decision on one non-opioid pain drug, Viatris has its eye on two more, via a takeover bid for Pacira BioSciences. Viatris is offering $36.50 per share for Pacira, a near-45% premium on the latter's closing price, in an all-cash deal that would value the company at around $1.65 billion. Predictably, shares in Pacira shot up to approach that value soon after the agreement was made public.

This year’s World Sight Day turns global attention to the scale of preventable vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults. An estimated 9.6 million Americans were living with the disease in 2021, including 1.84 million with vision-threatening disease, figures that have roughly doubled since 2004 as diabetes climbed past 37 million and average glycaemic control worsened. Yet, the treatment paradigm remains strikingly cautious.

Pfizer has claimed FDA approval for front-line maintenance use of its oral HER2 inhibitor Tukysa in breast cancer, an indication it hopes will unlock the product's growth potential. The US regulator has cleared Tukysa (tucatinib) – in combination with anti-HER2 antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab – for maintenance treatment of locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer that cannot be treated with surgery, after an initial course of induction treatment.

There was plenty of movement at the top of pharma and biotech in September, with leadership changes spanning some of the industry’s biggest names, as well as a broad crop of emerging drug developers. Takeda began the search for a new R&D chief, while Chiesi, Bavarian Nordic, and Legend Biotech all settled on new permanent CEOs. September was a huge month for chief medical and chief finance officer appointments, with three companies filling both posts and another 15 slotting in one or the other.

Early-stage companies in drug discovery face a relentless set of competing priorities. Raising funding, assembling the initial team, building lab operations from the ground up, generating proof-of-concept scientific data – to name a few – but all of which demand resources and attention. Against that backdrop, it’s understandable that establishing a data management framework might fall to the bottom of the list.

News Kensō Soai of the Tokyo University of Science and Paris-Sud University's Henri B Kagan share the SEK 12m ($1.2m) prize. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 has been awarded to two scientists - Henri B Kagan and Kensō Soai – for discoveries on mirror-image or 'chiral' forms of molecules that have helped advance drug development and our understanding of how medicines work in the body.

US pharma trade organisation PhRMA is challenging the Trump administration's GLOBE model for Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) pricing in Medicare Part B in court, accusing it of government overreach. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, comes just days after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalised the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) model, which introduces a new method for calculating inflation rebate amounts.