Today, a brief rundown of news from Chugai Pharmaceutical and ICER, as well as updates from Arcturus Therapeutics, Summit Therapeutics and Terns Pharmaceuticals that you may have missed.
Chugai Pharmaceutical will pay 15 billion yen, or about $98 million, to acquire Tokyo-based Renalys Pharma, the companies said Friday. The deal hands Chugai partial rights to sparsentan, a medicine Travere Therapeutics developed and sells in the U.S. and Europe as Filspari for the kidney disease IgA nephropathy. Renalys has been running a Phase 3 IgA nephropathy trial in Japan and expects results in the fourth quarter. Should that study read out positively and yield approvals in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Chugai will add another 16 billion yen to the deal. — Ben Fidler
Drug prices rose at a rate higher than inflation and gross domestic product growth between 2022 and 2024, according to a report released Thursday by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. ICER's report focused on the "net price" paid for prescription drugs after rebates and discounts. It found that, when adjusted for inflation, the annual launch prices of drugs increased by 51% from 2022 to 2024, while the yearly "list price" climbed 24% over that timeframe. The findings show that "in many cases, we are overpaying for treatments," alleged ICER president and CEO Sarah Emond, in a statement. — Ben Fidler
Arcturus Therapeutics lost more than half of its market value Wednesday after an inhalable, messenger RNA-based therapy for cystic fibrosis didn’t meaningfully improve lung function in a Phase 2 trial. Initial study results of Arcturus’ drug, ARCT-032, from a group of six patients found that five still had a decline in function after 28 days. Arcturus said the treatment was well-tolerated, and showed signs of improvement on certain imaging analyses. Enrollment is also ongoing in a cohort receiving a higher dose, with study results expected next year. Still, shares fell from over $20 apiece to about $11, as the results were “underwhelming,” wrote Leerink Partners analyst Lili Nsongo. — Ben Fidler
Shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals fell around 7% on Wednesday after announcing plans to cancel work on its GLP-1 pill for obesity because of disappointing study data. The drug, TERN-601, achieved statistically significant weight loss totals at three dose levels compared with a placebo, with study participants losing up to 4.6 percentage points more than placebo recipients after 12 weeks of treatment. However, three of the 134 trial volunteers treated with the drug had severe liver enzyme elevations, and two of them had signs of organ damage. Terns previously decided to focus resources on an experimental leukemia treatment while partnering off its metabolic disease work. — Jonathan Gardner
Summit Therapeutics raised $500 million in a private share sale to a group of investors that included some of its own executives as well as its development partner Akeso. Summit sold 26.7 million shares at $18.74 apiece, their closing price on Tuesday. The raise announced Wednesday came three days after Summit reported updated data from one of the studies testing its PD-1 and VEGF inhibitor ivonescimab and ahead of plans to seek U.S. approval in a form of lung cancer. Through Sept. 30, it had spent $173 million of the $412 million in cash it had on hand at the beginning of 2025. — Jonathan Gardner
