Today, a brief rundown of news involving Neumora Therapeutics and enGene, as well as updates from Johnson & Johnson, Cellares and Faeth Therapeutics that you may have missed.
Shares of Neumora Therapeutics lost half their value after one of the company’s drugs failed a pair of Phase 3 trials in major depressive disorder. Neumora’s drug navacaprant is part of a class of medicines that target kappa opioid receptors and have been hailed as potential blockbusters. But two prospects — navacaprant and J&J’s aticaprant — have now missed key goals in depression studies, and Neumora said Monday that it plans to end development of its drug altogether. The latest findings are “disappointing but not unexpected,” wrote William Blair analyst Myles Minter in a Monday note to investors. Minter referred to the setback as a “clearing event” that shifts focus to a pipeline that now includes drugs for obesity, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease agitation. Neumora has lost most of its value since going public in 2023. — Ben Fidler
EnGene will lay off half of its workforce and pare down an ongoing trial in a bid to conserve cash. In an earnings release Monday, enGene announced the layoffs as well as plans to stop enrollment in three cohorts of a trial testing its experimental gene therapy against a form of bladder cancer. The moves come ahead of a study readout that could form the basis of a U.S. approval application. Those results, and subsequent Food and Drug Administration discussions, are “key determinants” for enGene’s “regulatory and commercial outlook,” wrote Mani Foroohar, an analyst at Leerink Partners. — Ben Fidler
Cell therapy manufacturer Cellares added $50 million to what’s now a $327 million Series D financing, the company said Monday. The new investment from Prime Radiant Partners will be used to support an ongoing international expansion into Europe for Cellares via a new facility in the Netherlands and comes ahead of a potential initial public offering in 2027. Cellares helps companies speed up the production of cell therapies and has already partnered with drugmakers like Bristol Myers Squibb and Cabaletta Bio. The San Francisco-area biotechnology company has raised more than $680 million since launching in 2019. — Gwendolyn Wu
Johnson & Johnson will invest more than $1 billion in Jacksonville, Florida, as part of a $55 billion plan to onshore more drug production in the U.S. That investment includes a new distribution facility for its Acuvue contact lenses and adds to other announced commitments, such as a cell therapy plant in Pennsylvania and a biologics manufacturing hub in North Carolina. J&J is one of more than a dozen drugmakers to make a drug pricing deal with the White House in exchange for a reprieve on pharmaceutical tariffs. — Gwendolyn Wu
Four months after acquiring Faeth Therapeutics, the biotech formerly known as Sensei Biotherapeutics is taking on the cancer drugmaker’s name. The new Faeth is developing a combination drug called “Piktor” aimed at multiple parts of a pathway, “PAM,” that’s dysregulated in as many as half of all solid tumors. Piktor is in a Phase 2 trial in second-line endometrial cancer that’ll produce data later this year. Results from a second study in breast cancer should come in 2027. The combined company will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FTH.” — Gwendolyn Wu
Atlanta-based Celltaxis has named a new CEO, promoting Eileen Heffernan, one of its co-founders and current chief business officer, to the role, according to a Monday announcement. Heffernan, who has more than three decades of experience across therapeutics and diagnostics developers, was hailed as “a driving force behind Celltaxis” in a statement from the company's Chief Scientific Officer Eric Springman. The company was previously led by Michael Masters. Celltaxis has a drug in mid-stage testing for lymphedema, and is developing other medicines for lymphatic diseases. — Gwendolyn Wu
