Today, a brief rundown of news involving Assertio Holdings and Isomorphic Labs, as well as updates from Kyverna Therapeutics and AC Immune that you may have missed.
Assertio Holdings has terminated a buyout deal with Garda Therapeutics after accepting a new offer from another bidder. Garda originally offered $18.50 per share for Assertio in April, and upped its bid to $21.80 per share earlier this month. A new bid from Zydus Worldwide, however, values Assertio shares at $23.50 apiece, or about $166.4 million overall, and involves no contingencies or outside financing, the company said Wednesday. The Zydus deal has been deemed a “superior proposal” by Assertio’s board and is expected to close in the second quarter. Assertio’s chief product is Rolvedon, a drug that’s used to reduce the risk of infections in people receiving chemotherapy and that generated about $68 million in 2025 sales. — Ben Fidler
Isomorphic Labs, an AI drug discovery company founded by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, has raised $2.1 billion in a Series B financing the company will use to expand and progress its drug pipeline towards clinical testing. Isomorphic hasn’t disclosed which kinds of drugs it’s working on or how far away they are from human trials. However, the well-funded startup has brokered deals with Novartis, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson and said Tuesday it intends to apply AI to the “most complex biological and medical challenges and addressing the global burden of disease.” Among the rounds tracked by BioPharma Dive, Isomorphic’s funding ranks as the largest venture funding since at least 2022. The financing was led by Thrive Capital and involved additional backing from Alphabet, GV and four other investors. — Gwendolyn Wu
Kyverna Therapeutics has started working on what stands to be the first U.S. approval application for a cell therapy for an autoimmune disease, the company said Tuesday. The "rolling" submission will request approval of Kyverna's miv-cel for a progressive condition known as stiff person syndrome. Kyverna said it's aligned with the Food and Drug Administration on the underlying approval requirements, among them that the study miv-cel has succeeded in is "sufficient" to support a regulatory OK. Kyverna expects to complete the application by the end of the year and, assuming approval, launch the therapy in 2027. — Ben Fidler
AC Immune co-founder and CEO Andrea Pfeifer will retire after a 23-year run, the brain drug developer said Tuesday. Martin Zügel, the company's board chair, will serve as AC Immune's interim leader during a search for a permanent successor. AC Immune has three Alzheimer's drugs in clinical testing, partnerships in place with Lilly, J&J and Takeda, and enough cash to operate until late 2027. — Ben Fidler
