|
|
Upfront Briefing
Ugly day for KRAS: Erasca cratered 48% after a Phase 1 patient death in ERAS-0015, while Revolution Medicines piled on with patent/IP claims and rallied 10%.
On the deal tape, AbbVie booked an option to acquire Kestrel around Phase 1 pan-KRAS asset KST-6051 (up to $1.45B), and Lilly inked a $2.25B AI gene-editing pact with Bezos-backed Profluent. Pfizer quietly pushed out its Vyndamax patent cliff to mid-2031.
Capital calendar didn't blink: Oruka priced an upsized $700M offering. PTC's votoplam Month 24 PIVOT-HD interim showed 52% slowing on cUHDRS at 10mg vs natural history, with Novartis already running global Phase 3 INVEST-HD.
FDA also kicked off two real-time trial proof-of-concepts (AZ TRAVERSE, AMGN STREAM-SCLC) — a quiet but meaningful reset for trial-ops expectations.
Tape Action
| Instrument |
Last close |
1D % |
YTD % |
| S&P 500 | 7,138.8 | (0.5%) | +4.3% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 27,029.0 | (1.0%) | +7.1% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,756.1 | (1.2%) | +11.0% |
| Healthcare (XLV) | 143.8 | +0.3% | (6.4%) |
| Biotech (XBI) | 131.2 | (1.4%) | +4.1% |
| Nasdaq Biotech (NBI) | 5,827.5 | (0.8%) | (1.1%) |
| Clinical Trials (BBC) | 44.1 | (3.3%) | +6.4% |
|
- Macro risk-off was AI-led: a WSJ report said OpenAI missed internal revenue and user targets, with CFO concerns over data-center spend obligations — semis sold for a second session and the Nasdaq 100 lost 1.0%, while Brent rallied >2.5% on renewed Strait of Hormuz uncertainty added to the inflation tail.
- Healthcare was a defensive pocket — XLV +0.3% — but small-cap biotech did not participate: XBI fell 1.4% and BBC dropped 3.3% as investors punished higher-volatility clinical-stage names, with Erasca's 48% drawdown the obvious idiosyncratic drag. Kiniksa (+24% on Q1 ARCALYST beat-and-raise) was a notable offset.
- Market data: U.S. close Tue 28-Apr-2026.
The Big 3
|
1
|
Erasca crashes 48% on Phase 1 patient death; Revolution piles on with IP claim
|
- Erasca (ERAS) closed at $9.90, down 48.3%, after disclosing a Grade 5 pneumonitis death in a 66-year-old pancreatic cancer patient on ERAS-0015, its oral pan-RAS molecular glue. The same disclosure included Revolution Medicines (RVMD) allegations of patent infringement and improper comparative statements; RVMD closed +10%.
- Why it matters: The efficacy print still gives bulls something to point to — Erasca reported a 62% unconfirmed ORR in 2L+ KRAS-mutant NSCLC and 40% in 2L+ PDAC at pharmacologically active doses — but investors are now underwriting three separate discounts: confirmed-vs-unconfirmed responses, pooled U.S./China Phase 1 comparability, and a fresh safety/IP overhang. For the KRAS field, Revolution gets a near-term competitive reprieve into its own pivotal cadence, while incumbents and the broader pan-RAS / pan-KRAS pipeline — including AbbVie/Kestrel in Deal Flow — get a reminder that tolerability, cleaner datasets and legal freedom-to-operate may matter as much as early response rates.
- Source: Bloomberg
- More: Reuters; BioSpace
|
|
2
|
Oruka prices upsized $700M underwritten public offering
|
- Oruka Therapeutics (ORKA) priced an upsized $700M underwritten public offering of common stock and pre-funded warrants — one of the largest biotech follow-ons of 2026 to date and a sharp upsize from initial filings.
- Why it matters: The size signals two things to investors. First, real conviction in the half-life-extended IL-23 / IL-17A franchise — fresh BioCentury data this month suggested Oruka's IL-23 mAb could be competitive vs. Tremfya in psoriasis, and the raise pulls forward funding for full Phase 2/3 builds across psoriasis and PsA without needing to come back to the market mid-pivotal. Second, the dilution is meaningful at this stage — public investors are being asked to fund a multi-asset, multi-year build before any pivotal catalyst, so the path-dependency on Phase 2 readouts in 2H26/2027 is now binary. Read-through: open follow-on window for differentiated immunology platforms, but only at price — generalist demand for clinical-stage I&I has not yet returned to 2021 levels.
- Source: PR
- More: BioCentury
|
| 3 | PTC reports positive Month 24 interim PIVOT-HD data |
- PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) reported positive Month 24 interim PIVOT-HD long-term extension data for votoplam in Huntington's: dose-dependent slowing on cUHDRS in Stage 2 patients vs. a propensity-weighted natural-history cohort — 52% slowing at 10mg, 28% at 5mg, mean NfL below baseline at both doses, safety consistent with prior cuts. Novartis-sponsored global Phase 3 INVEST-HD (~770 early-stage HD patients, 3:2 randomization to 10mg vs. placebo, cUHDRS primary at Month 36) is now enrolling.
- Why it matters: The asset is partnered to Novartis (Dec 2024 deal), so the value-driver for PTCT equity is the milestone/royalty stream against a high-need neurodegeneration market with no DMT precedent. The 10mg arm now has a coherent story across HTT lowering at Month 12, biomarker (NfL) at Month 24, and clinical scale (cUHDRS) at Month 24 — strong enough to underwrite Novartis's Phase 3 commitment. The investor caveat is unchanged: external natural-history controls rarely earn full registrational credit on their own, so INVEST-HD's prospective placebo arm is still the binary that matters. Near-term, this should support PTCT Q2 R&D spend optics and reduces the probability that Novartis walks.
- Source: PR
|
Everything Else that broke
- Pfizer (PFE) settled with Dexcel, Hikma and Cipla, extending Vyndamax (tafamidis) effective U.S. patent expiry to June 1, 2031 (from prior 2028-2029 expectation) — Pfizer now expects "relatively stable" U.S. sales 2028 through mid-2031 vs. prior guidance for "significant decline" from 2029. ATTR-CM read-through: BridgeBio's acoramidis launch dynamics now face an extended branded-incumbent runway. — Endpoints; Fierce
- Insilico gets IND clearance for rentosertib inhalation. — PR
- Vanda cites NEJM Evidence publication for imsidolimab. — PR
- Addex says GABAB PAM shows anti-tussive activity in model. — PR
- Purespring spotlights genetic driver of adult-onset FSGS. — PR
- Design Therapeutics reports Q1 2026 results, trial update. — PR
- Kiniksa (KNSA) +24% on Q1 beat-and-raise — Arcalyst Q1 sales $214M (+55% YoY); GAAP net income $22.6M vs. $8.5M prior year. — PR
- Novartis cuts hit New Jersey again, affecting ~60 employees on top of prior workforce reductions. — BioSpace
- FDA launches real-time clinical-trial proof-of-concepts with AstraZeneca (TRAVERSE Phase 2 in MCL) and Amgen (STREAM-SCLC Phase 1b in LS-SCLC), plus an RFI for a broader summer pilot. — FDA; STAT
- BioCentury profiles Aurora’s bespoke base-editing approach. — BioCentury
- BioCentury: New targets uncovered at AACR. — BioCentury
- Pacira files definitive proxy materials, urges votes for nominees. — PR
- Zhengye Biotechnology posts fiscal year 2025 results. — PR
- Piramal Pharma reports Q4 and full-year FY26 results. — PR
- Cirius launches gestational diabetes initiative backed by grant. — PR
- Galapagos shareholders adopt all board-proposed resolutions. — PR
- Healthcare admin tech remains a key health tech funding theme. — Endpoints
- Novo Nordisk dropped an oral obesity candidate after investor concerns over side effects and efficacy. — STAT
Deal Flow
| BioBucks 2026 Deal Trackers • Updated weekly ⬇️
|
M&A / BD&L
- Lilly inked a multi-program research collaboration with Bezos-backed AI biotech Profluent worth up to $2.25B in development/commercial milestones plus royalties — Profluent will design AI-engineered site-specific recombinases for kilobase-scale DNA editing across multiple genomic targets; Lilly takes exclusive license rights through commercialization. Second recombinase pact for Lilly this year after January's Seamless deal, and another signal that large-cap pharma wants platform exposure without necessarily buying the company. — Reuters; PR
- AbbVie secured an exclusive option to acquire Kestrel Therapeutics tied to defined development milestones for KST-6051, an oral pan-KRAS inhibitor now in Phase 1; total potential value is up to $1.45B. — PR
VC / Private Financings
- AB Science completes €3.2M private placement. — PR
- Kurma closes new €215M fund amid early-stage VC challenges. — BioCentury
- Coultreon Biopharma (formerly Onco3R, Belgium) raised an oversubscribed $125M Series A to advance COL-5671, a potential first-in-class oral once-daily SIK3 inhibitor licensed from Galapagos, into Phase 2 in psoriasis and ulcerative colitis (POC data targeted 2027). Led by Sofinnova Investments; co-led by Forbion and Novo Holdings; joined by Galapagos, Regeneron Ventures, Balyasny, Luma Group, Samsara BioCapital, Longwood Fund and Finchley Healthcare Ventures. — PR
- Climb Bio announced a $110M private placement of common stock and pre-funded warrants, with participation from Adage, ADAR1, Affinity, Ally Bridge, Cormorant, Driehaus, Great Point, RA Capital, Redmile and others. — PR
IPOs / Follow-Ons
- Oruka prices upsized $700M underwritten public offering. — PR
|
|
That’s it for today — may your pilots be small, your datasets clean, and your dilution fully modeled. See you tomorrow. BioBucks Team
|
|
|
