Some people struggle to balance work, life, and maybe remembering to eat a vegetable.
Others run for governor and launch biotechs on the side.

Vivek Ramaswamy, currently campaigning for Ohio’s top job, just added “biotech founder” back to his résumé. His latest act: Ambros Therapeutics, a newly launched biotech debuting with a $125 million Series A to develop a non-opioid pain drug already approved in Italy.

Ambros is co-founded with industry veteran Keith Katkin, who will serve as board chair. The plan is straightforward on paper: bring a proven pain therapy stateside and offer an alternative to opioids at a time when the bar for pain drugs is… high.

⚖️ CDC Delays Newborn Hep B Shots
The CDC officially adopted a delayed approach to the hepatitis B birth dose, leaving the decision up to parents and healthcare providers. For families that opt in, the vaccine is recommended no earlier than two months of age. The shift signals a move toward personalized pediatric vaccination schedules.

💰 Pfizer Projects Revenue Slide in 2026
Pfizer forecasts 2026 revenue between $59.5 billion and $62.5 billion, down from both 2025 and 2024. Declining COVID product sales and patent expirations contribute to a $1.5 billion expected hit. Investors reacted quickly, sending shares down roughly 5% after the guidance update.

🧬 Sanofi Secures $1B Alzheimer’s Antibody Deal
Sanofi signed a licensing agreement with Seoul-based Adel for an investigational Alzheimer’s antibody, paying $80 million upfront with total deal value potentially exceeding $1.04 billion plus royalties. The move strengthens Sanofi’s late-stage neuroscience portfolio amid a high-risk, high-reward therapeutic area.

🤖 Genentech Partners with Caris on AI Cancer Targets
Genentech teamed up with Caris Discovery to use AI in identifying new solid tumor oncology targets. The collaboration includes $25 million upfront, with potential milestones reaching $1.1 billion. The deal reflects Big Pharma’s ongoing interest in AI-driven drug discovery.

🧪 Yarrow Bioscience Picks China-Origin Thyroid Drug
Yarrow Bioscience acquired ex-China rights to a first-in-class antibody for Graves’ disease and thyroid eye disease. The $1.37 billion potential deal highlights cross-border collaboration as U.S. companies look abroad for innovative autoimmune candidates.

💰 BMS Inks Multi-Specific Antibody Deal
Bristol Myers Squibb partnered with Harbour BioMed to advance multi-specific antibody programs. Harbour receives $90 million upfront, with total development and commercial milestones exceeding $1 billion. The deal underscores Big Pharma’s appetite for late-stage immunology platforms.

💊 GSK Wins Approval for Twice-Yearly Asthma Biologic
The FDA greenlit GSK’s depemokimab, branded Exdensur, for severe eosinophilic asthma. Administered twice a year, the IL-5 antibody could reach $4 billion in peak sales. Convenience is now part of the competitive moat in chronic respiratory disease.

After a dramatic bidding war for Metsera, the M&A market has officially roared back to life. Analysts are scouring the field for the next likely targets. Top candidates include:

🧬 Abivax - Late-stage inflammatory bowel disease data positions Abivax as a near-term revenue opportunity in immunology, a therapeutic area Big Pharma knows how to commercialize at scale.

🧠 MapLight Therapeutics - MapLight’s precision approach to neuropsychiatric disease offers Big Pharma exposure to differentiated CNS assets without the binary risk of traditional neuroscience pipelines.

💊 Structure Therapeutics - Structure’s oral small-molecule GLP-1 and metabolic programs give acquirers a non-injectable path into obesity and cardiometabolic markets still hungry for innovation.

🧪 Tern Pharmaceuticals - Tern’s focus on next-generation NASH and metabolic disease targets aligns with pharma’s push toward liver diseases with blockbuster potential and limited approved options.

🧬 Ventyx Biosciences - With multiple clinical-stage immunology and neuroinflammation assets, Ventyx offers portfolio depth that could immediately plug pipeline gaps for a large acquirer.

💉 Viking Therapeutics - Viking’s obesity and metabolic disease data make it an attractive bolt-on for pharmas looking to compete in GLP-1 adjacencies without starting from scratch.

The 2025 surge hasn’t just been domestic. Deals with Chinese biotech firms have driven significant cross-border collaboration, particularly in rare disease, autoimmune, and CNS therapies. Investors are watching closely, as emerging biotech companies continue to be the core drivers of innovation, and the next Big Pharma acquisition could appear anywhere on the globe.

Last year’s M&A value fell sharply, but 2025 saw dealmaking pick back up. With late-stage assets in demand and patent cliffs looming, expect both domestic and China-linked biotech deals to remain in the spotlight heading into 2026.

Medline raised this amount in its IPO, the largest of the year and one of the biggest ever for medtech. Over 216 million shares were sold at $29 a piece, bringing the company’s market cap north of $38 billion.

Two biotech debates popped up on Reddit this week that hit a little too close to home for many in the industry.

• Is the patent cliff the beginning of the end for biotech?
One redditor argued the looming wave of patent expirations isn’t just a revenue problem but a full-on business model reset, warning that incremental “me-too” innovation may no longer be reimbursed as governments tighten budgets. Others pushed back, pointing out that pharma has survived patent cliffs before and that breakthroughs like GLP-1s prove new science can still reset the clock. The consensus: innovation cycles may get harsher, but the obituary for biotech is still premature.

• An unpaid internship… at a biotech company. Seriously?
A post calling out an unpaid biotech internship sparked frustration across the comments, with many agreeing it’s a disappointing signal in an industry built on highly specialized expertise. That said, several commenters acknowledged the uncomfortable reality that someone will likely take the role anyway, just to get a foot in the door.

“If you haven’t failed yet, you haven’t tried anything.”

— Reshma Saujani

One plant says to another: “Are you hungry?”
The other replies: “I could use a light snack.”

That’s all for today. See you Tuesday 👋

May your data be clean and your side projects raise nine figures. 🙄

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