Welcome to the Weekly Rundown where the DDN editors cover this week’s top biotech and pharma news.
AI is becoming biopharma's biggest infrastructure bet — Anthropic and Lilly's deals prove it
Two deals struck within days of each other this week made one thing clear: pharma is done experimenting with AI and has moved on to buying it. Anthropic acquired Coefficient Bio, a New York-based stealth biotech founded just eight months ago, for approximately $400 million in stock — a number that turns heads until you look at who built it. Co-founders Nathan Frey and Samuel Stanton both came out of Prescient Design, Genentech's internal computational drug discovery unit, and CEO Aris Theologis brings stints at Evozyne and Paragon Biosciences. The team will fold into Anthropic's healthcare and life sciences division under Eric Kauderer-Abrams, serving a pharma client base that already includes Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, AbbVie, and Genmab. Across town, Insilico Medicine locked in a global research and development deal with Eli Lilly worth up to $2.75 billion in milestones, handing Lilly an exclusive worldwide license to a portfolio of preclinical oral drug candidates spanning multiple disease areas, with $115 million due upfront. The message from both deals is the same: access to the right algorithms — and the people behind them — has become as strategically important to drug developers as the molecules they are chasing. — Andrea Corona
Study finds stronger cancer risk in adults who never married
Adults who have never married face a significantly higher risk of developing cancer than those who are or have been married, according to a large US analysis of more than 4 million cancer cases led by researchers at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The study, published in Cancer Research Communications, found elevated cancer rates across nearly all major cancer types among never-married adults, with particularly strong associations for preventable cancers linked to infection, smoking, alcohol use, and reproductive factors. Men who had never married were about 70 percent more likely to develop cancer than married men, while never-married women faced an 85 percent higher risk, with especially large differences seen for anal cancer in men and cervical cancer in women. The findings suggest that marital status may act as a population-level marker of cumulative social, behavioral, and healthcare-related factors that influence cancer risk, rather than marriage itself being protective, said study co-author Paulo Pinheiro. – Bree Foster
Gilead moves to acquire Tubulis and expand cancer drug pipeline
Gilead Sciences has announced plans to acquire German biotech firm Tubulis in a deal valued at up to $5 billion, aiming to strengthen its oncology pipeline with next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Tubulis’ lead asset, TUB-040, is in Phase 1b/2 trials for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, while TUB-030 has shown promising early clinical results across multiple solid tumors. The acquisition builds on a two-year collaboration between the companies and will position Tubulis as Gilead’s dedicated ADC research organization in Munich, leveraging its integrated discovery, manufacturing, and clinical capabilities. Under the terms of the agreement, Gilead will pay $3.15 billion upfront with up to $1.85 billion in milestone payments, with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Gilead sees the deal as a key step in expanding its oncology portfolio to address high unmet needs in cancer treatment. – Bree Foster
A cancer therapy just put three autoimmune diseases into remission at once
A 47-year-old woman who spent more than a decade cycling through nine failed treatments for three simultaneous autoimmune diseases is now a year into treatment-free remission, thanks to a single infusion of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. The case, published in Med by researchers at University Hospital of Erlangen in Germany, marks the first time the approach has been used to simultaneously treat three distinct autoimmune conditions. The patient's illnesses all traced back to dysregulated B cells: autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), which caused her immune system to destroy her own red blood cells; immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), which depleted her platelets; and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, which put her at constant risk of dangerous blood clots. She required daily transfusions before treatment. The team, led by Fabian Müller, extracted and reengineered her T cells to target CD19, a protein found on B cell surfaces, then reinfused them. Within a week she had her last transfusion. Within three weeks, her hemoglobin levels had doubled. Months later, when her B cells returned, they were largely naive, suggesting the therapy had effectively reset her immune system rather than simply suppressing it. While a single case study has limits, the findings add to a growing body of evidence that CAR-T, long the domain of blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, may have a serious future in autoimmune disease. — Andrea Corona
Genetic differences may predict weight loss and side effects from GLP-1 drugs
A new study from 23andMe Research Institute has identified genetic factors that influence how people respond to GLP-1 medications for weight loss, offering a potential path toward more personalized obesity treatment. Published in Nature, the research analyzed data from 27,885 individuals taking drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, uncovering genetic variations that affect both the effectiveness of weight loss and the likelihood of side effects like nausea and vomiting. Variants in the GLP1R gene were linked to greater weight loss, while differences in GLP1R and GIPR genes were associated with medication-related nausea, with the GIPR effect specific to tirzepatide users. The findings were incorporated into 23andMe’s new Total Health report, which allows individuals to explore how genetics, age, and health conditions may shape their response to treatment. Researchers say the results could reduce trial-and-error approaches to obesity management and help guide more informed, clinically supported decisions. – Bree Foster
