JSKN016

Pathos AI announced Monday evening a pair of agreements, one with a subsidiary of Alphamab Oncology and another with AstraZeneca, to expand its pipeline and advance AI-driven oncology programmes.Under the first deal, potentially worth as much as $2.2 billion, Alphamab granted Pathos exclusive rights to JSKN016, a TROP2/HER3 bispecific antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) for solid tumours, in regions outside Greater China. The drug was identified through Foundry, Pathos' AI-driven decision platform for oncology drug development.A Phase III trial evaluating JSKN016 for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer is currently ongoing, while early-stage studies investigating a subcutaneous formulation of the therapy are also being conducted. Pathos will bear all development and commercialisation costs for JSKN016, while Alphamab will receive $125 million upfront and is eligible for milestones of up to $2.09 billion, in addition to tiered sales royalties at high-single-digit to low-double-digit percentages.Separately, AstraZeneca and Pathos will co-develop AZD4241, a preclinical, oral proteolysis-targeting chimaera (PROTAC) being developed for oestrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Pathos will take charge of the drug's early clinical development, using its Foundry platform to drive trial design and patient selection. Financial aspects of the transaction were not revealed."The bottleneck in oncology is not finding molecules. It is proving they work in the right patients," said Iker Huerga, chief executive of Pathos. "Foundry's job is to design the trial that proves it — matching this drug to the patients whose biology demands it."This isn't the first time Pathos has partnered with AstraZeneca. In April last year, the two companies, along with Tempus AI, forged a three-way multi-year pact to design a multimodal deep learning framework for oncology. Pathos also raised a $365-million series D last May to fuel its oncology ambitions.Besides the two latest additions, Pathos' pipeline features pocenbrodib, a Novo Nordisk-sourced CBP/p300 inhibitor for prostate cancer and multiple myeloma, the brain-penetrant PRMT5 inhibitor P-500 for glioma gained from Prelude Therapeutics, and the third-generation MET inhibitor DO-2 for non–small-cell lung cancer recently secured through a stake in DeuterOncology.

Today, a brief rundown of news involving Johnson & Johnson and Krystal Biotech, as well as updates from Merck & Co., Pathos AI, Helus Pharma and Novartis that you may have missed.Jennifer Taubert, the longtime leader of Johnson & Johnsons pharmaceutical business, will retire after a 21-year stint, the company said Tuesday. Taubert was involved in “nearly every aspect“ of that business over the course of her tenure, from commercial strategy to dealmaking and building the company's expertise in different therapeutic areas, J&J said. That “innovative medicines“ division now accounts for over $60 billion in annual revenue. Effective Sept. 1, she'll be replaced by Tom Cavanaugh, who currently chairs the divisions North America branch. Ben FidlerShares of Krystal Biotech lost nearly 30%of their value after the company missed quarterly revenue projections for its gene therapy Vyjuvek. According to Krystal, Vyjuvek, which is approved for the rare genetic skin condition dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, generated about $119.2 million during April and June. That figure is 24% higher than last years second-quarter total, but fell short of consensus estimates by about $2 million. The biggest reason, wrote Jefferies analyst Roger Song, was that pricing volatility in Europe masked strong demandfor the treatment. Song argued in a Monday client note that Vyjuveks launches in the U.S. and abroad are tracking favorably despite the revenue miss, and that additional coming marketing applications in other countries could boost its prospects. Ben FidlerAn inflammatory disease drug Merck & Co. paid $11 billion for posted mixed results in a pair of Phase 2 trials. In its latest quarterly earnings report, Merck said tulisokibart, acquired in its buyout of Prometheus Biosciences, succeeded in one mid-stage study in the skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa but failed a second one in a kind of systemic sclerosis associated with lung inflammation. Merck previously disclosed that tulisokibart part of a new class of inflammatory disease medicines aimed at the protein TL1A met its objectives in a Phase 3 trial in ulcerative colitis. Ben FidlerHelus Pharma, a psychedelics specialist formerly known as Cybin, on Monday announced that it has appointed Michael Halstead as CEO. Halstead previously served as president of Intra-Cellular Therapies, a brain drug developer that Johnson & Johnson bought last year for nearly $15 billion. His experience guiding pharmaceutical companies through late-stage development, infrastructure buildout, and commercialization will be invaluable to Helus, Co-founder and Executive Chairman Eric So said in a statement. Helus expects toward the end of this year results from a key late-stage trial testing its most advanced drug a modified form of psilocybin, the mind-altering compound found in certain mushroom species as a treatment for major depressive disorder. Jacob BellPathos AI has grabbed rights to two experimental cancer drugs through deals with AstraZeneca and a subsidiary of Suzhou, China-based Alphamab Oncology. Pathos didnt disclose the financial terms of the AstraZeneca pact, only noting that through the alliance itll take over early development of a preclinical, protein-degrading breast cancer drug called AZD4241. But the company will pay Alphamab $125 million upfront, and possibly another nearly $2.1 billion in the future, for most rights to a bispecific antibody-drug conjugate it sees having the potential to treat a range of solid tumors. That prospect, JSKN016, seeks out the popular cancer targets TROP2 and HER3 and is currently in Phase 3 testing in China. The Alphamab deal is at least the 39th licensing pact of its kind this year, according to BioPharma Dive data. Ben FidlerThe Food and Drug Administration on Friday widened use of Novartis radiopharmaceutical Pluvicto in people with prostate cancer. Pluvicto was already cleared for use in advanced castration-resistant tumors before or after chemotherapy in people whod already received a kind of hormone therapy. Fridays clearance makes Pluvicto available much earlier, alongside standard hormone treatments in patients with newly diagnosed disease. According to Novartis, that nod will nearly double the number of patients eligible for treatment and enable use across all stages of metastatic prostate cancer thats positive for the protein PSMA. Pluvicto generated about $2 billion in sales last year and is on track to surpass that total in 2026. Ben Fidler '