👋 Hey, let’s get into it. One year ago, almost nobody had heard of Chai Discovery. Now it's one of biotech's hottest startups after raising another $400 million at a staggering $3.8 billion valuation, making it one of biotech's fastest-rising AI companies. The startup develops AI models that predict and design how molecules interact, helping researchers accelerate drug discovery and engineer new therapeutics.

Side thought: There’s a non-zero chance some hedge fund's "AI investment advisor" is currently comparing Chai Discovery to Starbucks to figure out the best way to capitalize on protein-infused lattes. 😂

🤖 Insilico and Bora Sign $2.5B AI Drug Discovery Partnership
Insilico Medicine continues collecting billion-dollar partnerships like they're conference tote bags. The AI drug discovery company signed a collaboration with CDMO Bora Pharmaceuticals worth up to $2.5 billion to discover and develop new medicines across multiple targets. Insilico's Pharma.AI platform can produce preclinical candidates in just 12 to 18 months versus the industry's typical 2.5 to 4 years. Bora hopes the partnership won't just accelerate drug discovery but also weave AI into manufacturing, supply chains and business operations, showing AI's footprint now extends well beyond the research lab.

🫁 AstraZeneca Pays Up to $1.5B for Dizal's EGFR Lung Cancer Drug
Nearly a decade after spinning out its Chinese research unit to form Dizal, AstraZeneca is bringing one of its most promising assets back home. The pharma giant will pay up to $1.5 billion for exclusive global rights to Zegfrovy following positive phase 3 lung cancer data showing a 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death versus chemotherapy. It's a reminder that biotech spinouts don't always stay independent forever, especially when they produce late-stage assets that solve problems their former parent company still needs to address.

🎗️ FDA Approves Celcuity's Breast Cancer Drug
Celcuity officially became a commercial-stage biotech after the FDA approved Revtorpyk for previously treated HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer patients without PIK3CA mutations. Analysts believe the therapy has blockbuster potential thanks to impressive efficacy and expansion opportunities into earlier-line breast cancer and prostate cancer. That optimism has already fueled acquisition speculation, with several observers suggesting Celcuity may ultimately create more value as part of a larger pharmaceutical company than by building a commercial organization from scratch.

🚀 Avere Launches with Reverse Merger, $320M Raise and $2.3B Hansoh Deal
Some startups spend years building momentum. Avere Therapeutics did it all in one week. The company secured a Nasdaq listing through a reverse merger with NextCure, licensed a once-weekly oral IL-23 therapy from Hansoh Pharmaceutical in a deal worth up to $2.3 billion and raised $320 million to fund development. With fresh capital, a public listing and a clinical-stage lead program already in hand, Avere skipped much of the traditional biotech startup playbook and entered the market at full speed.

🙌 Kelun and Merck Hit Landmark Phase 3 Lung Cancer Win
Kelun Biotech reported the first successful phase 3 trial showing an antibody-drug conjugate combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor can outperform platinum chemotherapy in first-line PD-L1-negative nonsquamous lung cancer. The study paired sacituzumab tirumotecan with Merck's Keytruda and significantly improved progression-free survival while showing a positive overall survival trend. Analysts believe the results could encourage Merck to pursue a global registrational study, potentially replacing one of oncology's longest-standing first-line treatment regimens.

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💊 Novo's Wegovy Pill Wins European Approval
Novo Nordisk secured European approval for oral Wegovy, giving it another head start over Lilly in the increasingly competitive GLP-1 pill race.

💸 Spero Makes $1.1B Autoimmune Pivot
Spero licensed Innovent's CD40L antibody in a deal worth up to $1.1 billion while raising $105 million to fund its autoimmune strategy.

🧠 Biogen Defends Anti-Tau Alzheimer's Data
Biogen pushed back against investor concerns after confusing phase 2 anti-tau results sent shares lower despite encouraging cognitive decline data.

🏆 Huyabio's Melanoma Combo Wins Phase 3 Trial
Adding HBI-8000 to Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo improved progression-free survival by 58% in advanced melanoma patients.

📈 Attovia Files for IPO to Challenge Sanofi and Regeneron
Attovia hopes public markets will fund development of an IL-31 therapy designed to challenge Dupixent and Nemluvio in atopic dermatitis.

🧠 Lilly Eyes Maintenance Dosing for Alzheimer's Drug
Lilly is evaluating maintenance dosing of Kisunla for Alzheimer's patients after amyloid clearance to help prevent disease-causing plaques from returning.

🧫 OpenAI-Backed Biossil Buys Failed Antibiotic
Biossil acquired Summit's abandoned antibiotic candidate as it continues using AI to identify failed drugs deserving another clinical shot.

☢️ AdvanCell Raises $315M for Radiotherapy Expansion
AdvanCell closed an oversubscribed $315 million Series D to advance its lead prostate cancer radiotherapy into late-stage development.

Biopharma has spent the first half of 2026 on an absolute heater. Mega-acquisitions are back, venture funding is flowing again, and the XBI has climbed back to pandemic-era highs. Now comes the real test. As second-quarter earnings season begins, investors want to know whether the industry's renewed optimism is showing up in company balance sheets.

Eli Lilly remains the company everyone will be watching. Analysts expect another strong quarter fueled by Zepbound and Mounjaro, while keeping a close eye on the early rollout of Foundayo, Lilly's oral obesity drug. The launch has started slower than many expected, especially compared with Novo Nordisk's oral Wegovy, but Wall Street still sees significant long-term potential.

Elsewhere, Merck investors will be looking for updates on adoption of subcutaneous Keytruda and the future of sacituzumab tirumotecan following this week's landmark lung cancer data. Pfizer is expected to discuss its expanding obesity pipeline, while AbbVie faces questions about integrating its $10.9 billion Apogee acquisition and defending its immunology franchise against new competition.

The broader backdrop has improved dramatically. Analysts estimate pharma M&A has already topped $80 billion this year, while venture financing continues pouring into AI, obesity and precision medicine startups. Regulatory uncertainty has also eased, removing one of biotech's biggest overhangs from the past year.

Not everyone enters earnings season with momentum. Amgen continues dealing with regulatory scrutiny around Tavneos, Gilead faces slowing HIV growth, and Regeneron is still recovering from its disappointing LAG-3 setback.

After months of billion-dollar headlines, this is where biotech has to prove the numbers match the narrative.

📖 Read the full story

That's Johnson & Johnson's updated 2026 revenue forecast after another strong earnings report. Despite losing U.S. exclusivity for former blockbuster Stelara, J&J is on pace to surpass $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time thanks largely to Tremfya, whose sales jumped 72% and nearly replaced Stelara's decline on its own.

Here’s what biotech Redditors are talking about:

🧪 Doing the Lab's Dirty Work Won't Always Get You Promoted
One Reddit scientist wondered whether constantly volunteering for the lab's "grunt work" was helping or quietly hurting their career. The consensus was surprisingly balanced: being dependable absolutely builds your reputation, but don't become the person everyone expects to do the jobs nobody else wants. Several commenters suggested making sure your manager actually sees the value you're creating. Others warned about the infamous "Dilbert Effect," where the most competent people get stuck doing the work while better networkers climb into management.

🏢 Does Big Pharma Carry Google-Level Resume Prestige?
A professional who recently moved from banking into big pharma asked whether working at companies like Lilly, Roche or AstraZeneca carries the same career boost as having Google, Meta or Goldman Sachs on your resume. Reddit's answer was mostly yes...within biotech. Blue-chip pharma names consistently help candidates land interviews, especially at smaller biotechs. But most agreed they don't have the universal cachet that elite tech or finance brands carry across virtually every industry.

💉 First Bundibugyo Ebola Vaccine Reaches Phase 1
The first vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is entering phase 1 testing in the U.K. with support from CEPI.

⚖️ Sanofi Joins the mRNA Patent Wars
Sanofi filed new lawsuits against Pfizer and Moderna, challenging the lipid nanoparticle technology used in several blockbuster mRNA vaccines.

🍄 FDA Finalizes Psychedelics Guidance
The FDA released final guidance for psychedelic drug development, offering companies a clearer regulatory roadmap for future mental health therapies.

💼 FTC Reaches Settlement with CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark agreed to overhaul formulary practices after regulators alleged the PBM favored higher-cost insulin products to maximize rebates.

♻️ Biossil Is Giving Failed Drugs a Second Chance
We mentioned Biossil briefly in Quick Hits after it bought Summit Therapeutics' abandoned antibiotic candidate. But the company itself deserves a closer look. The OpenAI-backed startup has raised roughly $70 million to hunt for promising drug candidates that failed in clinical trials for the wrong reasons, then use AI to determine whether they deserve another shot. Instead of inventing new molecules from scratch, Biossil is building a business around biotech's castoffs, betting tomorrow's blockbuster might already exist...it just had bad first ownership.

❌ July 16, 1926: The Man Who Discovered Protein's Delete Button is Born
American biochemist Dr. Irwin Rose was born on this day in 1926. His discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation revealed how cells label damaged or unnecessary proteins for destruction, earning him the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. That seemingly basic biological process became the foundation for modern proteasome inhibitors like Velcade and transformed cancer treatment. Sometimes the biggest medical breakthroughs come from studying what cells throw away, not what they create.

In an era where everyone's obsessed with hitting their daily protein goals, it's probably only a matter of time before someone discovers Irwin Rose's work and declares him public enemy No. 1 for figuring out how cells destroy proteins.

I can already picture the fitness influencer thumbnail: "Scientists Have Been Destroying Your Gains for 100 Years?! Fortunately, your muscles are safe...provided you buy my revolutionary protein preservation supplement.”

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

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