Welcome to the Weekly Rundown where the DDN editors cover this week’s top biotech and pharma news.
Fingerstick dried blood test shows promise for Alzheimer’s disease screening
Researchers in the DROP-AD project found that Alzheimer’s disease-related pathology may be detectable using fingerstick blood collected on dried spot cards, reducing reliance on venipuncture, specialized processing, and cold-chain shipping. In a multicenter study of 337 participants, capillary-dried samples tracked well with conventional blood draws and distinguished people across cognitive stages, with early results also supporting use in harder-to-draw populations such as individuals with Down syndrome. The team also reported strong agreement between supervised and self-collected samples, suggesting the approach could enable more scalable, lower-burden biomarker testing in research settings as protocols are further refined. – Andrea Corona
Arrowhead RNAi drug doubles weight loss when paired with tirzepatide
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has reported encouraging interim data from two early-stage clinical trials of its RNA interference (RNAi)-based obesity candidates, showing meaningful weight loss and improvements in body composition in obese patients, including those with type 2 diabetes. In a Phase 1/2a study, investigational therapy ARO-INHBE, when combined with the GLP-1/GIP agonist tirzepatide, achieved 9.4 percent weight loss at 16 weeks — nearly double that seen with tirzepatide alone — alongside markedly greater reductions in visceral fat, total fat, and liver fat. ARO-INHBE also demonstrated robust fat loss as a monotherapy while increasing lean muscle mass, addressing a key limitation of current treatments. Meanwhile, Arrowhead’s second candidate, ARO-ALK7, became the first RNAi therapeutic to show successful knockdown of an adipocyte-expressed gene in humans, achieving up to 94 percent reduction in ALK7 mRNA and significant visceral fat loss after a single dose. The results mark the first clinical evidence that targeting the Activin E/ALK7 pathway could improve fat distribution and metabolic outcomes, positioning Arrowhead’s RNAi approach as a potential next-generation strategy to complement existing obesity therapies. – Bree Foster
New AI model uses sleep data to predict disease risk
Researchers at Stanford Medicine trained an AI model on 585,000 hours of sleep data from about 65,000 patients to predict a person’s risk of developing a disease in 130 disease categories. In the study, published in Nature, sleep data was obtained from polysomnography — the gold standard in sleep studies — which collects physiological measurements such as brain and heart activity, breathing, and movement. Once trained, the researchers evaluated its ability to predict health outcomes. Using up to 25 years of follow-up data from the electronic health records of 35,000 patients, the AI model, SleepFM, was able to predict with reasonable accuracy the onset of Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. “We were pleasantly surprised that for a pretty diverse set of conditions, the model is able to make informative predictions,” said James Zou, a biomedical data scientist at Stanford University and co-senior author of the study, in the press release. – Melissa Kay
Ikarovec and VectorBuilder develop office-based gene therapy for AMD
UK biotech Ikarovec has entered an early-stage partnership with gene delivery specialist VectorBuilder to develop an intravitreally delivered gene therapy for intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition with no approved treatments. The collaboration will apply VectorBuilder’s novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid technology to Ikarovec’s preclinical candidate IKAR-003, a one-time injectable gene therapy designed to slow disease progression through dual mechanisms of neuroprotection and complement modulation. The aim is to enable office-based administration via a minimally invasive intravitreal injection, potentially expanding access for patients at risk of progressing to sight-threatening forms of AMD. While the agreement is currently structured as an option pending further evaluation, the companies said a full deal could be worth more than $1 billion if finalized. – Bree Foster
Amgen buys Dark Blue to bolster early leukemia pipeline
Amgen has acquired Dark Blue Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $840 million, adding a first-in-class acute leukemia program to its oncology portfolio. The UK-based biotech’s lead candidate, DBT 3757, is an investigational small-molecule degrader targeting MLLT1/3 proteins in the super elongation complex, a mechanism Dark Blue pioneered to exploit previously untapped vulnerabilities in leukemia biology. Now in IND-enabling studies, the drug has shown broad anti-cancer activity across preclinical models of acute myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Amgen said the acquisition complements its work in targeted protein degradation and will be integrated into its existing research organization as the company moves the program toward clinical testing for patients with limited treatment options. – Andrea Corona
Moderna files global submissions for its seasonal flu vaccine amid a challenging influenza season
Moderna has submitted regulatory applications for its investigational seasonal influenza vaccine, mRNA-1010, to the FDA, EMA, Health Canada, and Australia’s TGA for adults aged 50 years and older. The filings are supported by Phase 3 data showing superior efficacy and robust antibody responses compared with licensed high- and standard-dose vaccines, and the vaccine was generally well tolerated in trials. CEO Stéphane Bancel said the agility of mRNA technology could help address the problem of vaccine mismatch and evolving strains. The move comes against the backdrop of what public health reporting describes as one of the most severe respiratory virus seasons in years, with US flu activity and hospitalizations rising sharply as influenza A (H3N2) subclade K spreads and outpatient visits remain elevated, prompting heightened concern among clinicians and public health officials. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified 2025–26 flu activity as “moderately severe,” with cases and hospital admissions significantly higher than the same period last season. – Andrea Corona
