BRY10

Plus, news on AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Averin Capital and Chugai: 🧪 Kyowa Kirin discloses side effect for recently regained drug: A patient participating in a Phase 3 trial to treat eczema developed a case of Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer of the blood vessels, Kyowa Kirin CEO Masashi Miyamoto told analysts Monday in Tokyo. The patient had “risk factors” and had received an experimental anti-OX40 drug known as rocatinlimab in the ROCKET program. “The treatment was discontinued, but we hear that the patient is recovering,” Miyamoto said, according to a transcript of the call. Amgen on Friday terminated its partnership on rocatinlimab with Kyowa Kirin, with both companies describing the move as “portfolio prioritization” on Amgen’s part and neither disclosing the side effect at the time. A similar program from Sanofi (amlitelimab, which targets the OX40 ligand) also saw a case of cutaneous Kaposi’s sarcoma emerge in a high-risk patient during a Phase 3 trial. — Max Gelman 💰 GSK was sole bidder for RAPT Therapeutics: The UK drug giant was the only company to make an offer for the food allergy biotech that it’s acquiring for $2.2 billion . Eight other companies contacted by RAPT either didn’t respond, weren’t interested in a deal or didn’t submit an offer, according to a regulatory document revealed Monday. GSK hiked its offer multiple times, starting at $50 a share on Dec. 22 before landing on the $58 price that was disclosed on Jan. 20. — Kyle LaHucik 📈 AstraZeneca starts trading on New York Stock Exchange: The company is now trading across the NYSE, London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm. The decision comes just a few days after AstraZeneca announced a $15 billion investment in China, as well as a $1.2 billion upfront collaboration with Hong Kong-based CSPC Pharmaceuticals on eight different drugs, including a once-monthly injection for obesity. — Max Gelman 📊 J&J touts real-world data of its prostate cancer med : The pharma found that patients who received Erleada had a statistically significant 51% reduction in the risk of death compared to patients who took Bayer’s Nubeqa without docetaxel, a kind of chemotherapy. The retrospective analysis included patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer who initiated treatment between August 2022 and June 2025 through 24 months of follow-up, totaling almost 1,500 people who took Erleada and 287 people who initiated with Nubeqa. — Max Bayer 💰 David Berry launches $250M SPAC: Berry and his healthcare investment firm Averin have launched a special purpose acquisition company called Averin Capital Acquisition. They plan to raise $250 million in a Nasdaq IPO so the blank-check company can combine with a business at the “intersection of technology and health,” according to a Friday SEC filing . Berry was CEO of Flagship-founded Valo Health when the biotech tried going public via a SPAC combination. Those plans were culled, and Valo remains private. In 2024, Berry left Valo and Flagship, where he had spent about 18 years helping build healthcare companies. Averin invests in startups like liquid biopsy company Freenome. — Kyle LaHucik 🛑 Chugai trims chronic disease program from pipeline: The antibody known as BRY10 was in a Phase 1 healthy volunteer study, but Chugai opted not to advance it, according to a company presentation . — Max Gelman