Biotech — October 2026

US bans imports from China's BGI over forced-labor claims

Customs will bar goods from BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech over alleged Xinjiang forced labor. BGI Group denies the claim.

AstraZeneca targets $1.5B in yearly savings after sales beat

The drugmaker unveiled a three-year restructuring to fund its drug pipeline but gave few details, including whether jobs will go.

FDA maps approval path for one-patient gene editing drugs

The FDA outlined how companies can seek approval for gene editors built to fix one person's mutation, and draft rules would ease later updates.

Artiva shuts down after two deaths in cell therapy trial

The biotech laid off 94% of staff and dropped its off-the-shelf NK cell therapy for autoimmune disease after two patients died in a Phase 2a trial.

UC San Diego finds sea compound that fights brain amoeba

Rutamycin B, from a marine bacterium, beat the standard drug's speed in lab tests. It still has to be tried in live disease models.

Roche's divarasib beats rivals in lung cancer trial

In a head-to-head trial, Roche's divarasib cut the risk of death by 44% compared with Amgen's and Bristol Myers' already-approved KRAS G12C drugs.

Lung cancer drug combination extends survival in trial

In an interim phase 3 study, patients on Imdelltra plus Imfinzi lived a median 21.1 months, compared with 12.7 months on Imfinzi alone.

US proposes limits on overseas biotech investments

The Treasury wants to add certain biotechnology deals to restrictions on US investment in countries of concern, including China.

Vaccine plus Keytruda cuts melanoma relapse risk in trial

The investigational personalized mRNA vaccine, given with Keytruda, reduced recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone in a Phase 3 trial.

Roivant's eye drug clears two pivotal trials

Brepocitinib hit its goals in both Phase 3 trials for a rare eye disease, setting up a 2027 filing for approval.

OpenAI buys Orchestra Bio to push deeper into drug R&D

The deal folds a four-year-old startup's drug-development AI agents into Rosalind, OpenAI's life-sciences model, as rival labs race into biotech.

Merck KGaA buys UK biotech Silence for $1.3 billion

The German drugmaker is paying $1.3 billion for a London biotech whose gene-silencing drug just worked in a rare blood disease.

David Sabatini wins $6M in MIT misconduct case

A jury awarded the ousted MIT biologist $6 million, rejecting his accuser's harassment claims and finding she defamed him.

Legend's CAR-T hit 100% response before its FDA clearance

LB2501 posted a 100% response rate in a small China trial before clearing a U.S. FDA hurdle.

China drafts export bans covering AI, biotech, solar

The draft would ban or restrict 40 technologies, from gene therapy platforms to AI that can write malicious code.

AstraZeneca pays insitro $40M for AI drug deal

The deal could reach $1.5 billion as insitro's AI hunts for new drug targets in liver and heart disease.

Colossal's new AI hunts for dodo gene-editing targets

The de-extinction company's new AI platform, GenoMorph, flagged about 2,300 genes that could help recreate dodo traits in a living relative.

BioNTech's cancer vaccine misses key trial goal

The mRNA shot failed to slow tumor growth in a head-and-neck cancer trial, BioNTech's third mRNA setback this year.

Bristol Myers' lung drug works at low dose, fails at high

A key lung-scarring drug succeeded at 60mg but missed at 120mg, while a second trial slowed a rare tumor's growth.

AstraZeneca's bone disease drug fails late-stage trial

Efzimfotase alfa missed its goal in a rare bone disease trial. AstraZeneca blames the study's design, not the drug.

Parkinson's cell-therapy biotech Aspen files for IPO

Gilead-backed Aspen and immunology biotech Bambusa are both betting investors want back into biotech IPOs.

GSK taps AI startup Chai Discovery to design biologics

GSK is expanding its work with Chai Discovery after the AI startup's protein designs worked in GSK's own lab tests, with no target-specific training.

Argenx halts Vyvgart trial in Sjögren's, shares fall 14%

The biotech stopped a late-stage study after an independent panel found the drug unlikely to beat a placebo, erasing a hoped-for expansion.

Jonathan the tortoise's genome reveals longevity clues

At 194, Jonathan is the world's oldest known land animal. Scientists sequenced his genome and found 287 gene variants tied to aging.

ArriVent's lung cancer drug fails key trial, stock halves

Firmonertinib missed its main goal in a pivotal lung cancer trial, and ArriVent's stock lost more than half its value within hours.

Vaxcyte's vaccine beats rivals in late-stage trial

VAX-31 matched or beat Pfizer's Prevnar 20 head-to-head in a Phase 3 study, sending Vaxcyte's stock soaring.

CSL pays $355M for Alentis' kidney and liver drug deal

The Australian drugmaker will pay up to $1.6 billion to develop a new treatment for rare kidney and liver diseases.

Novartis bets $7.8B on a Chinese autoimmune drug

Novartis is paying up to $7.8 billion for Abogen's experimental mRNA therapy for lupus and other autoimmune diseases.

FDA opens new office to speed up clinical trials

The new office inside FDA's drug-review arm puts AI and real-world data at the center of how new medicines get tested and approved.

FDA approves heart drug Camzyos for kids as young as 12

Camzyos becomes the first drug of its kind approved for adolescents with a dangerous thickened-heart condition.

Lilly's new obesity combo beats its own top drug

Eli Lilly's eloralintide-tirzepatide combo cut up to 23.3% of body weight in a trial, but far more patients quit from side effects.