A Shameless Bribe
We spent the weekend doing what any well-adjusted adults would do: reading every pharma M&A press release from January to September. Our partners have questions. Our houseplants have passed. But we have THE report.
Inside: the full Q1–Q3 M&A rundown (who bought what, at what stage, and when), plus a one-page cheat sheet of everything each big pharma has thrown in its shopping trolley this year. Let’s just say one of them has a lot more money than the others right now…
The price: one (1) new reader. Forward this to a colleague, your BD team, or that friend at every conference who still asks what an upfront is. Your referral link is at the bottom of this email; when they subscribe through it, the loot lands in your inbox.
Small print: yes, it counts if they’re your boss. Especially if they’re your boss.
Oh, and one more thing — it’s only available for the next 10 days. After that, it’s gone.
A blurry cheat sheet sneak peek… see what we did there.
Alright, enough of the shameless plug. Let’s dive in.
Upfront Briefing
CSL spent Sunday night writing a $355M upfront for Alentis’ phase 2 claudin-1 antibody. That’s a co-development pact, not a takeover, and a hefty check for a 26-patient interim read. Lilly got Jaypirca into first-line CLL late Friday, even if its own oncology chief keeps saying the drug’s real home is second line.
Genmab’s Rina-S is now “clearly superior” to Elahere in at least one sell-side note, which sets up the Rainfol-02 Ph3 nicely. On the calendar: Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa opens today in Phoenix, and CPhI Europe kicks off tomorrow in Milan.
Tape Action
| Instrument |
Last close |
1D % |
YTD % |
| S&P 500 |
7,722.7 |
+0.7% |
+12.6% |
| Nasdaq 100 |
30,807.9 |
+1.0% |
+22.2% |
| Russell 2000 |
2,832.9 |
+0.9% |
+12.9% |
| Healthcare (XLV) |
166.2 |
0.0% |
+6.9% |
| Biotech (XBI) |
154.4 |
(0.1%) |
+27.1% |
| Nasdaq Biotech (NBI) |
6,947.6 |
(0.3%) |
+21.7% |
| Clinical Trials (BBC) |
44.6 |
(1.0%) |
+18.4% |
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- Biotech went nowhere Friday: XBI (0.1%), NBI (0.3%) and BBC (1.0%) against a flat XLV while the S&P 500 rose 0.7%.
- September payrolls rose just 29,000 against a 79,000 consensus, July was revised to a 10,000 decline and unemployment ticked up to 4.2%; CME FedWatch put ~78% odds on a hold at 3.75–4.00%, and growth led, with the Nasdaq Composite +1.2%.
- Market data: U.S. cash close Friday, 2 October 2026.
The Big 3
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1
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CSL pays $355M upfront to co-develop Alentis’ claudin-1 fibrosis antibody
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- CSL pays $355M upfront for co-development and co-commercialization rights to Alentis’ anti-claudin-1 antibody lixudebart, plus up to $1.2B in commercial milestones, with profits split 55/45 in CSL’s favor.
- Why it matters: CSL is paying $355M upfront for a phase 2 asset whose clinical evidence is a 26-patient interim read in AAV-RPGN, a rich price for that data package. Commercial milestones are capped at $1.2B and the profit split runs 55/45 in CSL’s favor, so most of Alentis’ upside sits in the co-commercial share rather than back-ended payments. CSL also funds the Ph3 in AAV-RPGN plus Ph2s in FSGS and PSC, which removes the private biotech’s main financing overhang. The fit is plain: CSL Vifor already sells Mircera, Velphoro and Korsuva to nephrologists. The risk is the data: claudin-1 has no approved drug behind it, and 24-week eGFR gains in a small cohort can fade.
- Source: Endpoints
- More: Fierce Biotech; CSL
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2
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Lilly wins FDA approval for Jaypirca in first-line CLL
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- FDA approved Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib), the only noncovalent BTK inhibitor, for previously untreated CLL/SLL in adults without known del(17p), on Bruin CLL-313 data.
- Why it matters: The label tracks Bruin CLL-313, where Jaypirca cut progression or death risk by 80% versus bendamustine-rituximab, with median PFS not reached against 33.5 months. The commercial read is narrower than the headline: it is the fourth BTK inhibitor cleared up front, excludes known del(17p) as Brukinsa’s Sequoia cohort 1 did, and NCCN rates it category 2A first-line versus category 1 after a covalent BTKi. Lilly’s oncology head has said the main use remains second line, where it is the only noncovalent option after Brukinsa, Calquence or Imbruvica. Q2 sales were $192M (+56%) against Brukinsa’s $1.2B, so first-line share gains move Lilly’s oncology line, not the group. Fixed-duration Bruin CLL-322 is the bigger long-term lever.
- Source: Fierce Pharma
- More: Lilly
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3
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Genmab’s Rina-S posts 9.5-month PFS in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer
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- Genmab’s FRα ADC rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S) posted 45.9% ORR and 9.5-month median PFS in 109 platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients in Part C of Rainfol-01; TD Cowen called it “clearly superior” to AbbVie’s Elahere.
- Why it matters: The population was heavily pretreated: 53% had three or four prior lines and a third had already received Elahere. TD Cowen’s comparison is cross-trial: Elahere’s 5.6 months came from a 453-patient Ph3 in FRα-positive disease, while Rina-S showed activity in low and non-expressors. Safety is the cleaner edge, with no ocular, neuropathy or ILD signal against Elahere’s boxed ocular warning, though nausea, vomiting and fatigue ran higher. Elahere did $690M in 2025; Genmab sees Rina-S above $2B via endometrial and platinum-sensitive expansion. The binary is Rainfol-02, a PFS-primary Ph3 with data due this year, and AbbVie’s open trade-secret suit over the $1.8B ProfoundBio deal is the tail risk.
- Source: Fierce Biotech
- More: Genmab
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Everything Else that broke
- Autoimmune CAR-T safety scrutiny intensified as Kyverna nears market entry. — BioSpace
- Roivant entered its commercial era with Lisraya, its first solo launch. — BioSpace
- Bayer detailed a $2.2B Ohio manufacturing site expected to create about 600 jobs. — Fierce Pharma
- Aviceda will shut down after a phase 2 failure in geographic atrophy. — Endpoints
- Regeneron pitched an obesity-plus-lipid strategy as GLP-1 competition thickens. — Endpoints
- Pfizer highlighted Litfulo’s vitiligo expansion potential in broader immunology momentum. — Fierce Pharma
- Xaira, the $1B-funded AI biotech, unveiled its antibody design platform and a first look at its pipeline after two years of near-silence. — Fierce Biotech
Deal Flow
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BioBucks 2026 Deal Trackers • Updated weekly ⬇️
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M&A / BD&L
- CSL / Alentis — $355M upfront, up to $1.2B commercial milestones, 55/45 profit split; co-development of anti-claudin-1 lixudebart (Ph2, AAV-RPGN). — Endpoints
- Summit will test its cancer drug with Datroway in a trial collaboration with AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo. — Endpoints
- Teva and Samsung Bioepis expanded their biosimilars partnership to cover up to six new assets. — Fierce Pharma
VC / Private Financings
- Celaid Therapeutics (Tokyo) closed a JPY400M (~$2.6M) second Series B tranche with new investors Shionogi and Teikoku Ventures; cumulative funding including AMED support ~JPY3.42B (~$22.1M). — PR
IPOs / Follow-Ons
Academic Corner - The Lancet commented on combining perioperative atezolizumab with SBRT in localized NSCLC. — Lancet
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