👋 Hey, let’s get into it. Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer. That’s a remarkable amount of confidence in a product roadmap.

I’m excited about AI in drug discovery too, but I didn’t realize we were already at “somebody pass me a lighter.” There’s optimism, and then there’s treating a technology forecast like a warranty on your lungs.

Tech bros… y’all okay??

🧬 BioNTech’s mRNA Cancer Vaccine Misses a Key Trial Goal
BioNTech’s BNT113 missed a primary goal in its Phase 2/3 head-and-neck cancer trial. Adding the mRNA immunotherapy to Keytruda didn’t significantly delay cancer progression or death versus Keytruda alone. The treatment trains immune responses against two HPV16 proteins in patients whose tumors are linked to that virus. An independent committee recommended continuing to assess overall survival, the other primary endpoint, which could still make the trial positive. After a separate colorectal cancer vaccine setback this summer, BioNTech now has another reason to hope the remaining survival data deliver.

💰 Roche’s RNAi Obesity Deal Could Reach $1.16B
Roche is expanding its obesity search beyond GLP-1 with a potential $1.16 billion deal for Rona Therapeutics’ RNA-interference candidate. It targets ALK7, aiming to reduce a gene’s activity in fat tissue. The proposed payoff: less harmful fat while preserving lean mass, potentially complementing appetite-focused drugs. Those benefits still need to be established in people. Upfront and near-term milestones total up to $100 million, with another $1.06 billion tied to later milestones, plus royalties. Getting RNA medicines beyond the liver is part of the challenge, and the attraction.

🎭 Gilead Signs $1.9 Billion Deal for Vir’s Masked T-Cell Engagers
Gilead signed a potential $1.9 billion collaboration with Vir to develop three T-cell engagers for solid tumors. These molecules bring immune cells to cancer targets, with protective “masks” intended to limit activity away from tumors. Vir will discover and optimize candidates. Gilead gets exclusive rights to select and advance them, then handle development, manufacturing, and commercialization. Upfront consideration is $65 million in cash and a $25 million equity investment. Another $45 million in near-term milestones and $1.74 billion in later milestones are conditional, with royalties additional. The molecules get masks…and the deal gets plenty of asterisks.

🤖 Zealand Signs AI Drug Pact for Metabolic Diseases Worth Nearly $1.2B
Zealand Pharma is giving Generate Biomedicines $30 million upfront to design protein medicines for metabolic diseases using AI. The collaboration starts with two programs, with an option for a third, and nearly $1.2 billion in potential milestones for the initial pair, plus royalties. The proteins would interact with multiple targets, potentially combining useful effects in one medicine. Generate handles research through candidate selection, while Zealand takes over clinical development and commercialization.

Stop hoping the algorithm finds your audience. They’re already here.

BioNucleus Briefing has 2,200+ subscriptions across its email and LinkedIn newsletters, including scientists, founders, investors, operators, and other biotech and pharma professionals.

We feature one exclusive sponsor per issue, giving relevant tools, software, services, events, and other life-science brands a direct way to reach our readers.

Think your company could be a fit? Reply to this email and let’s talk.

Alright, back to the newsletter.

🎯 Pfizer Signs Potential $500M+ Protein-Targeting Deal
Pfizer partnered with Enodia in a potential $500 million-plus deal to discover small molecules that disrupt disease-driving proteins during production, before they cause trouble.

🧴 Galderma Signs $1.5B ZO Skin Health Deal
Galderma agreed to acquire physician-dispensed skincare company ZO Skin Health at a $1.5 billion enterprise value, expanding its dermatology portfolio.

⚖️ Liquidia’s $380.7M Settlement With United Therapeutics
Liquidia’s $380.7 million settlement preserves Yutrepia for pulmonary arterial hypertension while it seeks removal of the indication for pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease.

🔬 Agilent Buys Proscia for $240M to Expand in Digital Pathology and AI
Agilent agreed to buy digital-pathology software company Proscia for $240 million, connecting its pathology instruments and reagents more closely with imaging workflows and AI tools.

🏥 STERIS Agrees to Buy Xodus Medical for $2.1B
STERIS agreed to buy Xodus Medical for $2.1 billion, adding surgical consumables and patient-positioning products, with up to $150 million in earnouts.

📉 J&J Raises Its Outlook, but MedTech Disappoints Again
J&J’s MedTech sales grew 2.5% to $8.642 billion but missed expectations for a second consecutive quarter, even as the company raised full-year guidance.

😬 Olympus Shares Plunge 13.5% After FDA Warning
Olympus shares suffered their biggest one-day drop since 2011 after the company disclosed an FDA warning concerning quality systems at six facilities.

🦾 Stryker Bets $400M on Surgical Robots
Stryker announced an approximately $400 million investment in surgical-robotics company CMR, alongside exclusive U.S. sales rights and an option to acquire it later.

Martin Shkreli’s biotech stock commentary has caught the attention of exactly the people you don’t want watching when you have a lifetime pharma ban: federal regulators. Apparently, the FTC found his YouTube channel. Their version of “like, follow, subscribe” involves downloading the footage and attaching it to a court filing.

The FTC and seven states asked a Manhattan federal judge to hold Shkreli in civil contempt on October 13. They allege he traded shares of at least 60 pharmaceutical companies and used livestreams and social posts to influence companies’ businesses, including through campaigns betting on clinical failures.

We’re not going into the full Pharma Bro backstory, but here’s the quick version: the ban came from the Daraprim antitrust case, where a court found an unlawful scheme that blocked generic competition. The February 2022 injunction restricts pharmaceutical-company ownership and actions influencing their management or business. It’s separate from the securities-fraud conviction that sent him to prison.

So this goes beyond whether Shkreli is allowed to have opinions about biotech. The question is whether his trading and online activity crossed boundaries specifically imposed on him. An industry ban can reach further than keeping someone out of the executive suite.

Regulators want him to sell prohibited holdings and pay a fine based on trading profits plus interest, without deducting losses. They’re also seeking escalating consequences for future violations, potentially including incarceration. Shkreli has pushed back on free-speech grounds. The court still has to decide whether the alleged conduct warrants contempt and sanctions.

His lawyer probably had a few suggestions for life after the ban. “Build a publicly searchable video archive of your pharma trades” presumably wasn’t one of them.

This is the number of GSK jobs that could be affected by its proposed Belgian reorganization. The plan forms part of a broader effort targeting £1.9 billion ($2.5 billion) in annual savings by 2029.

Here’s what biotech Redditors are talking about:

🩸 What Was It Like Working at Theranos?
One applicant said Theranos took their fingerprints and required a thick NDA before the interview. A commenter who said they worked there recalled anti-Quest chants at town halls, teams that barely spoke, and finally seeing the “secret” lab…only to be underwhelmed. They initially assumed that was just startup life. Nothing says “normal workplace” like wondering whether you’ve applied to a diagnostics company or a spy agency.

💸 Why Do People Invest in Biotech?
Biotech Redditors asked why anyone puts money into an industry where experiments fail, development takes years, and even promising science can go nowhere. Commenters pointed to the potential payday: a buyout, an IPO, or finding another investor willing to pay more. Others defended venture capital’s whole purpose: funding risky moonshots. Then there were the cynics, who noted that a startup can implode while its founder somehow lands another funding round. The company ran out of runway, but the CEO just changed airports.

🐭 MIT Programs Cancer Fighting Immune Cells Inside Mice
MIT researchers used targeted nanoparticles to program natural killer cells inside mice, potentially avoiding the need to remove and manufacture therapeutic cells outside the body.

🍞 First Tracks’ Celiac Drug Limits Gluten Damage in Early Trial
First Tracks reported less intestinal damage with ANB033 versus placebo during a short Phase 1b gluten challenge in celiac disease, an encouraging early signal.

💉 Kaléo Wins $96.1M for a Nerve-Agent Antidote Injector
BARDA awarded Kaléo $96.1 million to advance an antidote auto-injector for nerve-agent and other organophosphate poisoning, supporting development, manufacturing validation, regulatory work, and initial procurement.

🥧 Soufflé Raises $135M to Take RNA Medicines Beyond the Liver
Soufflé Therapeutics raised a $135 million Series B led by Juvia Group to help RNA medicines reach tissues beyond the liver. Its platform identifies receptors that carry material into particular cells, then uses binding molecules to deliver the medicine through them. The funding supports three lead programs heading toward clinical studies, including treatments for muscular dystrophy and heart failure. Designing the payload is only half the recipe. For this Soufflé, getting the ingredients to the right tissue is the main event. On a side note, we can neither confirm nor deny whether Gordon Ramsay is an investor. The man appreciates a good soufflé, so I wouldn’t rule it out.

🪪 October 15, 1940: A Scientist Who Explained T-Cell Recognition Is Born
Peter Doherty was born in Brisbane, Australia, on this day in 1940. Working with Rolf Zinkernagel, he helped show that virus-fighting T cells recognize foreign material together with the body’s own cell-surface molecules. Think suspicious cargo presented alongside the cell’s ID badge. The discovery earned the pair the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and helped explain how T cells identify infected targets. Long before the nightclub bouncer, the immune system was checking IDs, with lasting implications for vaccines and cancer immunology.

Thinking back to the Martin Shkreli story, I bet his lawyers were absolutely begging him to find a hobby outside of pharma.

“Martin, have you ever thought about gardening? Pickleball? Literally anything that doesn’t require us to reread your court order?”

I can picture him reassuring them: “Relax, I’m just starting a YouTube channel.”

That’s all for today. See you Tuesday for the next issue. 👋

✍️ Today’s email was brought to you by Josh Martin. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

If you’re enjoying BioNucleus, share it with a friend or coworker who’d get value from it. We’re a small operation, and every share makes a bigger difference than you think.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here 👇

Subscribe for free

Follow us on social and stay one step ahead