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Through an acquisition announced Friday, Belgian drug company UCB is wagering more than $1 billion on a cutting-edge medicine thats being tested as a potential therapy for a few seizure disorders as well as Alzheimers disease.UCB offered to buy privately held Neurona Therapeutics for $650 million up front while dangling another $500 million in future, milestone-based payments. If completed, the deal would hand UCB an experimental therapy that uses pluripotent stem cells engineered to calm the brain and repair neural networks.The therapy, codenamed NRTX1001, is currently being evaluated in clinical trials as a treatment for patients with hard-to-treat forms of a common epilepsy rooted in the mesial temporal lobe part of the brain.Such an asset would diversify UCBs arsenal of seizure treatments, which are all small molecule drugs. That list includes Vimpat, Keppra, Briviact and Fintepla with the last being the most recent to secure U.S. approval, for seizures associated with a rare, severe type of childhood epilepsy that often causes long-term disabilities. In 2025, UCB recorded close to 1.2 billion euros, or roughly $1.3 billion, in net sales from just Briviact and Fintepla.In a statement, the company said this acquisition marks a strategic expansion into regenerative medicine and advanced therapies, while showcasing a commitment to inorganic growth and to epilepsy solutions that go beyond symptomatic management.We believe this therapy has the potential to provide durable targeted repair of the nervous system following a single dose and could represent a major step forward for people living with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said in the statement.Though often expensive to make and challenging to administer, cell therapies have proven to be powerful tools for fighting certain cancers. A growing body of evidence also indicates these treatments can be helpful combating diseases tied to the immune and nervous systems, which in turn has piqued investor interest. Back in 2024, for instance, Neurona raised $120 million to support its research, through a funding round co-led by Viking Global Investors and Cormorant Asset Management.More recently, Aspen Neuroscience, a biotech developing a cell therapy for Parkinsons disease, closed a $115 million Series C round. And just last month, Oryon Cell Therapies, another startup making a cellular medicine for Parkinson's, emerged from stealth with $42 million in funding.Early this year, analysts at the investment bank Stifel met with two prominent doctors in the epilepsy space, who said around one-third of patients with focal onset seizures a broad category that encompasses mesial temporal lobe epilepsy remain treatment-refractory despite a significant increase in the number of FDA-approved anti-seizure medications over the past 20 years.The statistic underscores a significant unmet need among this population, the analysts wrote.Additionally, the doctors described how community neurologists often prefer to prescribe drugs that are easy to use, like Vimpat or Keppra. They viewed azetukalner, a closely watched, ion-channel-opening medicine from Xenon Pharmaceuticals, as having many of the same attributes that made Vimpat or Keppra commercial successes. Xenon, notably, has become a top takeover target to some on Wall Street.A cell therapy like NRTX1001 may therefore face a bit of an uphill battle. But UCB sees an opportunity. Among other potentially advantageous characteristics, like being a durable, one-off treatment, the therapy is administered to the brain through a minimally invasive surgical procedure.UCB confirmed the deal wont impact the companys 2026 revenue guidance, which is expected to grow in a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage range at constant exchange rates. Underlying profitability, meanwhile, is now expected to grow in a high single-digit to mid-teens percentage range at constant exchange rates. '

Shionogi\'s deal with Apnimed includes a $100 million upfront fee and a $50 million milestone tied to SASS-002.\n Shionogi has struck a deal to take full control of its sleep disorder joint venture, agreeing to pay Apnimed $100 million upfront for its partner’s half of the business. Japan-based Shionogi set up the joint venture with Apnimed in 2023. Forming the Massachusetts-based company enabled Shionogi to pair its drug discovery capabilities with Apnimed’s obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) know-how. Last year, the joint venture, Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science (SASS), started a phase 2a trial of one candidate and added a second asset to its pipeline.Shionogi called the joint venture’s progress “steady” in a statement. Seeking to accelerate progress, the drugmaker agreed to buy Apnimed’s 50% stake in SASS. The deal includes the $100 million upfront fee and a $50 million milestone tied to SASS-002.SASS-001 is the most advanced candidate owned by SASS. The drug candidate combines sivopixant, a P2X3 receptor antagonist discovered by Shionogi, with a molecule that has an undisclosed mechanism of action. SASS is testing the combination in adults with sleep apnea with a central component in the phase 2a trial that began last year. Apnimed said one year ago to expect top-line data in the first half of 2026. The joint venture’s other named candidate is SASS-002, a formulation of the anti-seizure drug sulthiame. Apnimed acquired the rights to develop sulthiame in sleep apnea from Desitin Arzneimittel last year and cut Shionogi in on the deal to make the program part of SASS’ pipeline. Desitin completed a phase 2 trial of sulthiame in OSA in 2023. Adding the sulthiame program to SASS’ pipeline allowed Apnimed to keep its internal teams focused on AD109, a drug combination that targets a cause of upper airway collapse in people with OSA. Apnimed reported two phase 3 wins for AD109 last year and plans to seek FDA approval in the second quarter. In a statement, Apnimed CEO Larry Miller, M.D., said selling the SASS stake is “a strategic monetization” that will strengthen the biotech’s balance sheet. Apnimed disclosed a $35 million financing in December.