The Biotechnology week,distilled.

Gilead Sciences has agreed to acquire the oral IL-23R inhibitor program, including lead asset HCXT-2001, from PepStar Therapeutics for $1.275 billion in upfront cash.

Texas-based startup Warhound has secured $200 million in funding to develop genetically enhanced military and police dogs equipped with Anduril's cybernetic technology.

Also: 22 Oct — techcrunch.com

Gilead Sciences has entered into a licensing agreement with PepStar Therapeutics and Shanghai Peptidstar Therapeutics to acquire global rights for an oral IL-23R inhibitor program, including the lead asset HCXT-2001.

Warp Sciences, a startup founded by former OpenAI product chief Kevin Weil, has emerged from stealth mode.

Swedish private equity firm EQT has agreed to acquire the life-sciences and diagnostics provider Qiagen for €10.8 billion ($12.1 billion) in an all-cash deal.

Gilead Sciences has agreed to acquire the oral IL-23R inhibitor program, including lead candidate HCXT-2001, from the Chinese biotech company PepStar Therapeutics.

Alcon has announced the acquisition of Neurotech Pharmaceuticals for $550 million to expand its cell therapy portfolio.

Merck KGaA has agreed to acquire Silence Therapeutics in a deal valued at $1.3 billion.

The UK government announced a £100 million investment to establish the national AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL).

Vera Therapeutics presented full Phase III data from the ORIGIN 3 trial of its drug Trutakna for the treatment of IgA nephropathy at the American Society of Nephrology meeting.

UK-based startup Cerebella has launched Cerebella Foundations, a self-guided program designed by cognitive neuroscientists to help women manage menopause-related brain fog.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a subcutaneous induction regimen for AbbVie's Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa) to treat adults with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease.

Wave Neuroscience, in collaboration with the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology, has received FDA clearance for a personalized brain stimulation treatment for PTSD.

The University of Washington Institute for Protein Design and Nvidia have partnered to release RFD4-Proteina, an open-source generative AI model for protein design.

AstraZeneca has received US regulatory approval for its drug Ultomiris to treat immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved GSK's drug Hibsago (bepirovirsen) on October 20, 2026, for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis B who are already on nucleoside analogue therapy.

GSK's drug candidate Mo-Rez is projected to achieve $540 million in global annual sales by 2032.

The US biopharmaceutical industry has seen a record $1.78 billion in disclosed priority review voucher (PRV) sales across nine deals in 2026.

Moderna stock price declined by 25% on October 22, 2026.

OpenAI and Anthropic are planning initial public offerings (IPOs) in the coming years, with analysts projecting valuations of $1.4 trillion and $2 trillion respectively.

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals has announced a 50% reduction in its workforce and the early termination of its Phase III clinical trial for the drug duravyu following a failure to meet primary endpoints.

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced a strategic restructuring on October 19, 2026, which includes cutting approximately 53% of its workforce following the failure of its drug candidate duravyu to meet primary endpoints in the Phase 3 Lucia trial for wet age-related macular degeneration.

Fractyl Health announced positive six-month results from its REMAIN-1 clinical trial for the Revita weight maintenance procedure in the United States.

In 2026, the biotech sector experienced a significant recovery, with the iShares Biotechnology ETF rising 34% and the State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF increasing 39% over the past 12 months.

Chrome Holding Co., formerly known as 23andMe, has agreed to a $6 million settlement with the California Department of Justice to resolve allegations regarding a 2023 data breach and the unauthorized sale of genetic data.

Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford dropout, founded the blood-testing startup Theranos and raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $6 million settlement with 23andMe on October 19, 2026, resolving legal claims from a 2023 data breach.

Former MIT biologist David Sabatini has been awarded $6 million in damages following a defamation lawsuit against the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Roche presented Phase III Krascendo 1 study results at the ESMO 2026 conference in Madrid.

At the ESMO 2026 congress in Madrid, interim Phase III data from the DeLLphi-305 study were presented on October 24, 2026.

A major clinical trial has demonstrated that a personalised cancer vaccine significantly reduces the risk of disease recurrence.

Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA vaccine, intismeran, reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% in a phase III clinical trial.

Also: 22 Oct — arstechnica.com, 24 Oct — wired.com

On October 22, 2026, the San Francisco-based company Radical Numerics administered an AI-designed bacteriophage cocktail to a human patient in the United States.

Moderna and Merck reported that their experimental cancer vaccine combined with Keytruda reduced the risk of relapse or death by 42% in a melanoma study.

Merck and Moderna have released early phase 3 clinical trial data for their experimental cancer vaccine.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering research in optogenetics.

Quest Diagnostics confirmed a cyberattack on its Quanum lab testing platform, which resulted in unauthorized access to sensitive patient personal and health information.