Rimegepant Sulfate

The latest in a parade of China-sourced startups will join the race to develop a new class of migraine drugs. On Tuesday, Slate Medicines announced that it had raised a $130 million Series A round, and has the non-China rights to a drug candidate from Guangdong-based DartsBio that is scheduled to enter Phase 1 this year. The round was led by RA Capital, Forbion and Foresite Capital, which have taken part in other, similar deals recently in which a new Western company is founded around an asset or pipeline from China-based drug developers. Slate’s deal marks the third China-to-West licensing deal in two days . Raleigh, NC-based Slate declined to disclose financial details of the deal with DartsBio. DartsBio, founded in 2017, has worked on clinical-stage medicines for pain and cancer-related complications. It’s also forged deals with other drugmakers, such as DualityBio . In the Slate deal, DartsBio will hand over the ex-China rights to a monoclonal antibody that targets pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptides, or PACAPs. The asset, renamed SLTE-1009, is expected to start Phase 1 testing outside of China around the middle of this year. The class had a key win in mid-stage testing earlier this month, when Lundbeck said its drug bocunebart beat placebo at reducing the number of monthly migraine days. The Danish drugmaker’s candidate is slated to enter Phase 3 later this year. Currently, the migraine prevention space is dominated by CGRP inhibitors like Nurtec ODT, Vyepti and Ajovy. Lundbeck’s EVP of R&D Johan Luthman has said the PACAP approach could go after a “broader spectrum of migraine biology.” Haywire signaling for PACAP can drive pain sensation, neurogenic inflammation and instigate migraines. Slate aims to differentiate from Lundbeck with a longer-lasting candidate that can be delivered subcutaneously at home. Slate’s chief medical officer Roger Cady was previously VP of neurology at Lundbeck. Leading the biotech is CEO Gregory Oakes, who helmed Landos Biopharma during its $137.5 million upfront deal with AbbVie in 2024. COO Neil Buckley is working alongside Oakes and Cady. Buckley and Oakes were both venture partners at RA Capital’s healthcare incubator called Raven.

iStock, z_wei More than a dozen pharmas have recently struck deals with the White House to lower drug prices. Nevertheless, drugmakers reportedly plan to raise the U.S. prices of at least 350 branded medications. Drugmakers plan to raise the U.S. prices of 40% more drugs in 2026 than they did in 2025—despite pressure from President Donald Trump to charge less. Specifically, more than a dozen Big Pharmas have now reached Most Favored Nation agreements with the White House. Nevertheless, drugmakers plan to raise the U.S. prices of at least 350 branded medications, Reuters reported based on data from healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. That’s compared to the 250 or so drugs whose prices companies moved to raise at the start of 2025. At 4%, the median price increase this year is the same as in 2025 and in line with the average since the industry scaled back its annual price hikes in 2019. Pfizer, the first pharma to strike a drug pricing deal with the White House, is reportedly increasing the prices of 80 products, more than any other company. Pfizer drugs that will cost more this year include the cancer medicine Ibrance, migraine pill Nurtec and COVID-19 therapy Paxlovid. Most of Pfizer’s price increases are below 10%. The exceptions include the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and certain hospital drugs. Pfizer is reportedly set to charge 15% more for Comirnaty. The prices of some hospital medicines, which are relatively inexpensive, are increasing more than fourfold, according to the report. Pfizer told Reuters the average increase in the list price of its innovative medicines and vaccines for 2026 is below the overall rate of inflation. The company said the “modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to continue to discover and deliver new medicines as well as address increased costs throughout our business.” Vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and shingles are also among the products that will get new, higher prices. GSK, which sells a shingles vaccine and competes with Pfizer for the RSV market, reportedly plans to increase prices on around 20 products by 2% to 8.9%. The company told Reuters it is committed to reasonable prices and needs to charge more for the products to support scientific innovation. The list prices of around nine drugs are reportedly falling, with reductions of more than 40% in the case of Boehringer Ingelheim’s diabetes drug Jardiance and three related treatments. Jardiance, which Boehringer sells with Eli Lilly, was part of the Inflation Reduction Act negotiations that cut the prices Medicare will pay for 10 medicines starting this year. Boehringer and Lilly reduced the Medicare price by two-thirds. In addition to Pfizer, Boehringer, GSK and Lilly are among the 14 drugmakers that have struck price agreements with the Trump administration. Novartis and Sanofi, two other companies that reached deals with the White House in 2025, are also reportedly raising the prices of some drugs this year.