PETRI DISH PERSPECTIVES
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PETRI DISH PERSPECTIVES
January 2026: Biotech & Pharma NEWS Roundup
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Welcome to your essential overview of the global biotech and pharmaceutical landscape for January 2026!
This month was dominated by a surge in Eli Lilly's deals, partnerships, etc.
🎧 Listen now, stay curious, and don’t forget to subscribe for new episodes!
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© 2026 Petri Dish Perspectives LLC. All rights reserved.
Hello and welcome to Petri Dish Perspectives, the podcast where we geek out about science and the companies shaping the future of healthcare. I’m your host, Manead, and I’m a PhD scientist by training, and a storyteller by choice.
Due to continued demand, I’m reporting monthly episodes for biotech and pharma news. Each monthly recap for news is released on the first day of every month and my goal is to deliver digestible pieces of news on pharma and biotech companies in under 15 mins.
Grab your coffee or tea cuz you’re in for a treat!
The China Connection: AbbVie Bets $1B on Zelgen’s Next-Gen Lung Cancer Fighter
https://endpoints.news/abbvie-does-t-cell-engager-deal-in-china-for-zelgens-dll3-targeted-drug/
AbbVie expanded its oncology footprint by paying $100 million upfront to Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals for exclusive rights to ZG006 outside of Greater China. This first-in-class trispecific T-cell engager targets DLL3, a protein common in small cell lung cancer. If successful, Zelgen stands to gain up to $1.075 billion in milestones, as AbbVie aims to compete with Amgen’s recently approved Imdelltra.
Vanda Ends the 40-Year Wait: FDA Approves First New Motion Sickness Drug
https://endpoints.news/vanda-wins-fda-approval-for-motion-sickness-drug/
The FDA granted approval to Vanda Pharmaceuticals for NEREUS™ (tradipitant), the first new pharmacological treatment for motion-induced vomiting in over four decades. Licensed originally from Eli Lilly, the drug works by blocking neurokinin-1 receptors. Vanda is currently launching the product while exploring its potential for nausea related to the booming GLP-1 weight-loss drug market.
Oxford’s Edge: Amgen Snags Dark Blue in $840M Leukemia Play
https://endpoints.news/amgen-to-acquire-dark-blue-therapeutics-for-up-to-840m/
Amgen acquired Oxford University spinout Dark Blue Therapeutics for up to $840 million in combined upfront and milestone payments. The deal centers on DBT 3757, a preclinical "degrader" drug that targets the MLLT1/3 protein to treat aggressive forms of leukemia like AML. This acquisition allows Amgen to integrate precision oncology tools developed through Oxford’s prestigious LAB282 accelerator.
AI for Immunity: Sanofi and Earendil’s $2.5B Strategic Storm
Sanofi and Earendil Labs signed a massive $2.56 billion development deal to create bispecific therapies for autoimmune diseases. Sanofi paid $160 million upfront to access Earendil’s AI-powered discovery engine, which automates the design of proteins that can bind to two different targets simultaneously. This follows Sanofi's aggressive strategy to become a "fully AI-driven" pharmaceutical giant by 2030.
The Generative Giant: Insilico Caps the Year with a Record $293M IPO
https://endpoints.news/insilico-caps-the-year-with-a-soaring-hong-kong-ipo/
Insilico Medicine, a pioneer in generative AI for drug discovery, successfully completed a $293 million IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was the largest Hong Kong IPO of late 2025 and the first for a purely AI-driven biotech. Backed by Lilly and Tencent, the company is using the funds to advance its AI-designed fibrosis drug, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials.
The $5.6 Billion Bispecific Battle: AbbVie Enters the PD-1xVEGF Fray
AbbVie joined the hottest race in oncology by paying $650 million upfront to RemeGen for the ex-China rights to RC148. The total deal value could reach $5.6 billion in milestones. RC148 is a bispecific antibody that attacks tumors on two fronts: it blocks PD-1 to activate the immune system and inhibits VEGF to cut off the tumor's blood supply, aiming to challenge Merck’s Keytruda.
Divesting for Growth: Pfizer Exits ViiV Stake in $1.9B Strategic Shift
Pfizer has offloaded its 11.7% stake in ViiV Healthcare, an HIV-focused venture it co-founded with GSK. Shionogi stepped in to buy the shares for $2.125 billion, with Pfizer walking away with $1.875 billion in cash. The move allows Pfizer to focus capital on its core oncology and mRNA units, while Shionogi increases its influence over ViiV’s market-leading long-acting HIV injectables.
Closing the Allergy Gap: GSK Swallows RAPT Therapeutics for $2.2B
https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-enters-agreement-to-acquire-rapt-therapeutics/
GSK reached a definitive agreement to acquire RAPT Therapeutics for $2.2 billion ($58 per share). The acquisition centers on ozureprubart, a potentially revolutionary oral therapy for food allergies. Unlike current treatments that manage reactions, this anti-IgE therapy aims to prevent the immune system from triggering an allergic response in the first place, filling a massive unmet need for patients with peanut and shellfish allergies.
Obesity’s Global Reach: AstraZeneca’s Record $18.5B Alliance in China
https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/astrazeneca-obesity-deal-china-cspc-ai/810942/
AstraZeneca made the largest partnership pledge of the year, a deal worth up to $18.5 billion with China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group. Paying $1.2 billion upfront, AstraZeneca secured a global license for SYH2082, a long-acting dual GLP-1/GIP agonist for obesity. The deal includes access to CSPC’s AI platform to develop eight additional weight-loss assets, signaling AstraZeneca's intent to become a top-tier player in the metabolic space.
Radiopharma’s New Star: Aktis Hits the Nasdaq with Lilly’s $100M Fuel
https://endpoints.news/aktis-oncology-files-for-ipo-to-fund-lilly-partnered-radiopharma-pipeline/
Aktis Oncology launched the first major biotech IPO of 2026, raising $365 million to advance its pipeline of miniprotein-based radiopharmaceuticals. The offering was significantly bolstered by a $100 million investment from Eli Lilly, which previously signed a $1.1 billion discovery deal with the company. The proceeds will fund Phase 1b trials for its lead Nectin-4 candidate, targeting solid tumors with high-potency alpha particles.
The Obesity Obsession: Lilly and Nimbus Ink $1.3B Sequel for Oral Weight-Loss
https://endpoints.news/lilly-goes-back-to-nimbus-for-an-oral-obesity-drug-in-55m-deal/
Eli Lilly doubled down on its metabolic partnership with Nimbus Therapeutics, paying $55 million upfront for a second collaboration worth up to $1.3 billion. The new deal focuses on discovering preclinical oral small molecules for obesity and related metabolic disorders. By leveraging Nimbus’s computational chemistry platform, Lilly aims to diversify its weight-loss portfolio beyond the injectable Zepbound.
Lilly’s NLRP3 Lockdown: A $1.2B Buyout for Ventyx’s Inflammation Pipeline
https://endpoints.news/lilly-to-pay-1-2b-for-ventyx-and-its-nlrp3-drugs/
Eli Lilly deepened its immunology bench with a $1.2 billion all-cash acquisition of Ventyx Biosciences. At $14 per share, the deal secures Ventyx’s oral NLRP3 inhibitors, including the CNS-penetrant VTX3232. These drugs target the "inflammasome," a key driver of chronic inflammation in conditions ranging from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to obesity-related heart disease.
Mapping the Cure: Lilly Puts $950M Behind InduPro’s Protein AI
https://endpoints.news/lilly-partners-with-protein-mapping-startup-indupro-for-up-to-950m/
Lilly entered a strategic pact with Seattle-based InduPro valued at up to $950 million to map the "neighborhoods" of tumor cells. Using InduPro’s proximity-guided protein platform, the duo will identify unique protein-target pairs on the surface of cancer cells. This data will be used to engineer highly specific bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that spare healthy tissue.
Agentic AI: Lilly Enlists Chai Discovery to Build its Private Bio-Brain
https://endpoints.news/eli-lilly-chai-discovery-sign-ai-software-deal/
Lilly became the first major partner for Chai Discovery, an AI startup valued at $1.3 billion. Instead of a standard drug deal, Lilly is paying for an exclusive version of the Chai-1 and Chai-2 models trained on Lilly’s proprietary datasets. This "private AI" will be integrated into Lilly’s internal workflows to predict molecular structures and design antibodies with a success rate far higher than traditional methods.
The $1 Billion Brain Trust: NVIDIA and Lilly Launch AI ‘Super-Lab’
NVIDIA and Eli Lilly announced a co-innovation lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, committing $1 billion over five years. The lab will combine NVIDIA’s BioNeMo platform and "Vera Rubin" architecture with Lilly’s wet-lab data to create an "AI factory." The goal is to build autonomous, 24/7 learning systems that allow AI agents to design and run biological experiments with minimal human intervention.
Rewriting the Code of Silence: Lilly’s $1.1B Bet on Gene-Edited Hearing
Lilly partnered with German startup Seamless Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $1.12 billion to cure genetic hearing loss. Instead of traditional CRISPR, which "cuts" DNA, Seamless uses "recombinases"—enzymes that can precisely swap or rearrange DNA segments. Lilly will apply this "programmable" gene editing to correct specific mutations in the inner ear that cause congenital deafness. [Image comparing CRISPR DNA cutting vs. Recombinase DNA swapping/rearrangement]
Retraining the Immune System: Lilly’s $1.9B Leap into ‘Tolerizing’ Tech
Eli Lilly and Repertoire Immune Medicines entered a $1.93 billion collaboration to treat autoimmune diseases by "retraining" the immune system rather than suppressing it. Lilly paid $85 million upfront to use Repertoire’s DECODE platform. The goal is to develop "tolerizing" vaccines that teach the body to stop attacking its own tissues, potentially offering a permanent cure for diseases like Type 1 diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis.
With that, that is a wrap for January 2026 news.
This has been Petri Dish Perspectives. I’m Manead. Thanks for listening.
© 2026 Petri Dish Perspectives LLC. All rights reserved.
