Today, a brief rundown of news from Iambic Therapeutics and Merck & Co., as well as updates from Roche, Lundbeck and Viridian Therapeutics that you may have missed.
The AI-driven biotechnology company Iambic Therapeutics announced Tuesday a research collaboration and drug supply agreement with Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Jazz will, at no cost, provide its HER2-targeted bispecific antibody Ziihera to be studied in combination with Iambic’s IAM1363, an experimental, brain-penetrating, small molecule, tyrosine kinase inhibitor meant to inhibit HER2. Iambic plans to study this combination in those with HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously been treated with Enhertu. — Delilah Alvarado
On Monday, Merck & Co. announced it had broken ground on a new $3 billion manufacturing facility in Elkton, Virginia. The facility is part of a larger, more than $70 billion investment to expand the company’s domestic manufacturing and research and development that started in the beginning of 2025. Merck is billing the 400,000-square-foot Virginia site as a “Center of Excellence” that will produce both active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products. The site will potentially create more than 500 full-time roles as well as 8,000 construction jobs, according to the company. — Delilah Alvarado
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Roche’s lymphoma drug Gazyva to treat lupus nephritis, a kidney-related complication of systemic lupus erythematosus, the company said Sunday. The approval will give patients another treatment option to use alongside steroids and other immunosuppressants to control lupus nephritis. Gazyva won approval on the basis of a Phase 3 trial that added it to standard therapy — CellCept and prednisone — and compared the Gazyva triple combination to the standard therapy with a placebo. In the Gazyva group, 46% achieved renal response, defined by a reduction in the amount of protein in the urine, compared with 33% in the placebo group. — Jonathan Gardner
DRI Healthcare Trust, a biotechnology finance company, is paying $55 million up front and up to $300 million in total to Viridian Therapeutics in return for rights to a royalty stream from two experimental drugs for thyroid eye disease. DRI said Monday the deal includes up to $115 million in “near-term clinical and regulatory milestone payments” based on the progress of veligrotug and VRDN-003, which are both in Phase 3 clinical trials. Viridian expects to have topline results for VRDN-003 in the first half of 2026; and, if they’re positive, the company hopes to seek FDA approval by the end of next year. In return for the financing, DRI is entitled to royalties of 7.5% on net sales up to $600 million, 0.8% on net sales of $600 million to $900 million, and 0.25% on net sales of $900 million to $2 billion. — Jonathan Gardner
Lundbeck and Contera Pharma have entered a strategic research collaboration to accelerate development of oligonucleotide-based medicines for neurological conditions, the companies announced Monday. Contera will provide its RNA discovery platform to identify and develop novel targeted therapies. As part of the collaboration, Contera will receive an upfront payment and funding for research for each novel target. Lundbeck also retains the option to advance candidates into later-stage clinical development and global commercialization. Contera is eligible for milestone payments and tiered royalties. — Delilah Alvarado
