Today, a brief rundown of news involving Capricor Therapeutics and Bristol Myers Squibb, as well as updates from Eli Lilly, Kynexis and Network Bio that you may have missed.
Activist investor Kaos Capital is calling for “governance reset” at Capricor Therapeutics just a day before a Food and Drug Administration decision deadline for the company’s cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In a letter to fellow shareholders, Kaos requested a meeting to nominate two independent board directors and create an “M&A and strategic alternatives committee.” Kaos also demanded that Capricor freeze non-essential spending and bring in new drugs to complement its Duchenne treatment. Capricor needs to become a “disciplined biotech platform” rather than a “single asset bet,” Kaos wrote. The firm is seeking a meeting with the board and “a representative group of Capricor's substantial shareholders” within 15 days. — Jonathan Gardner
Bristol Myers Squibb has made another bet on AI drug discovery. One month after aligning with Nvidia in the hopes of building a large AI data center, Bristol Myers signed a deal with buzzy startup Chai Discovery to use AI technology to discover new antibody drugs. Bristol Myers will tap Chai’s AI models for help unearthing antibody candidates “across its portfolio” and further efforts to “build an AI-powered, continuously learning discovery system,” according to a Thursday statement. Chai raised a $400 million Series C round in July and has other partnerships in place with Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novartis. — Ben Fidler
Eli Lilly has struck a deal with RNA drug startup Amplitude Therapeutics to make what the companies described as “trans-amplifying” infectious disease vaccines. Trans-amplifying RNA is a type of replicating nucleic acid that, like messenger RNA technology, might help deliver vaccines into human cells. But those vaccines could be easier to manufacture and pack stronger potency into lower doses, the companies said. The Wednesday announcement did not disclose financial considerations or which exact targets the two companies will pursue, but noted that Lilly will have the rights to develop and commercialize any programs discovered in the collaboration. The move marks Lilly’s latest foray into vaccine research after buying three infectious disease-focused biotechs in May. — Gwendolyn Wu
Brain drug developer Kynexis said Wednesday it added another 40 million euros in financing as an extension of its Series A round. The financing led by Novartis’ corporate venture arm and including Forbion, Ysios Capital and Sunstone Life Science Ventures will help Kynexis complete a mid-stage study of its lead drug, “KYN-5356,” in people with cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia. Kynexis says that pill could help lower levels of kynurenic acid — a chemical that builds up in the brains of patients with schizophrenia — by blocking an enzyme called KAT-II. The Netherlands biotech expects to report topline results from that trial by the end of the year. — Gwendolyn Wu
A new startup called Network Bio netted $50 million in financing to amass a “disease-focused dataset” that would help “train new AI models to advance human health,” according to a Wednesday release. The California company is working with biobanks at major academic institutions such as Mass General Brigham and the University of Pennsylvania. According to Network, these partnerships will help it use a vast library of patient tissue and blood samples to generate datasets supporting biomedical research. Network is funded by a number of tech and biotech venture capital firms including Section 32, Thiel Bio, Founders Fund and Breyer Capital. It has already inked a $30 million-plus collaboration with an unnamed healthcare company. — Gwendolyn Wu
