ProteLight Pharmaceuticals (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.

Plus, news about Cyrano, Sanofi and Teva’s duvakitug, Roche’s Gazyva, Eli Lilly’s Retevmo, Johnson & Johnson’s Rybrevant, Newron Pharmaceuticals, and Gelmedix: 🇭🇰 Six biotechs target HKEX listing: Novlead Biotechnology, ProteLight Pharmaceuticals, Immunofoco Biotechnology, VivaVision Biotech, Salubris Pharmaceuticals and Jingxin Pharmaceutical applied for listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week. They join dozens of other biotech companies that have sought an IPO on the popular exchange in the past year. Novlead is in the cardiopulmonary space; ProteLight is developing anti-infectives, obesity medicines, cancer drugs and autoimmune treatments; Immunofoco is in the clinic with CAR-T cell therapies; VivaVision is a late-stage ophthalmology biotech; Salubris already trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and says it is the second largest pharma company for cardiovascular drugs in China; and Jingxin works on central nervous system disorders and cardiovascular diseases. — Kyle LaHucik 📦 Faraday shuts down: The Seattle biotech closed its doors in recent weeks, according to the company’s website. Its formulation of sodium iodide failed a Phase 3 trial “in late 2025” for ischemia-reperfusion injury, according to CEO Steve Hill’s LinkedIn page. The biotech, founded more than a decade ago, was backed by ARCH Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Osage University Partners and others. It had raised more than $150 million through its Series C and was gearing up to become a public company, according to former CFO Brian Blackman’s LinkedIn page. — Kyle LaHucik 👃 Cyrano’s intranasal spray for loss of smell: The Florida-based biotech said its experimental soft-mist spray CYR-064 “demonstrated durable improvements in smell function” in a Phase 2 trial enrolling patients with persistent post-viral loss of smell — also known as hyposmia. The trial recruited 151 patients with hyposmia lasting at least six months, at which point CEO Rick Geoffrion says “the chances become extremely small that their sense of smell will return.” Cyrano said there were no treatment-related serious adverse events, and the company plans on bringing detailed data to an upcoming conference. — Nicole DeFeudis 🥼 Sanofi, Teva tout long-term anti-TL1A data: The companies announced on Tuesday that their experimental drug duvakitug showed “durable” efficacy over 44 weeks in the extension period of a Phase 2b study. The study enrolled 130 patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease who had responded to treatment in the induction phase. Sanofi put down €469 million ($500 million) upfront in a deal to co-develop and co-commercialize duvakitug with Teva in October 2023. Duvakitug is now in Phase 3, and Teva medical chief Eric Hughes said the Phase 2b maintenance data “reinforce TL1A as a compelling target.” — Nicole DeFeudis ✅ Roche’s Gazyva passes Phase 3 autoimmune study: The company said “significantly” more people treated with Gazyva for primary membranous nephropathy achieved complete remission at two years compared to tacrolimus, meeting the study’s primary endpoint. If approved, Gazyva would be the first treatment for primary membranous nephropathy, a chronic condition that causes kidney damage. Roche said it plans to share its data with the FDA and EMA. — Nicole DeFeudis 🫁 Lilly says targeted drug passes Phase 3 in early-stage lung cancer: Retevmo, a RET kinase inhibitor, improved event-free survival compared to placebo as a post-surgery therapy for early-stage lung cancer patients with RET-positive disease. Lilly plans to go to health authorities with the data from the Phase 3 LIBRETTO-432 study. Overall survival results “trended in favor” of Retevmo, but were immature, the company said. — Lei Lei Wu 💉 J&J’s Rybrevant injection goes monthly: The FDA approved a monthly dosing schedule for the injectable version of Rybrevant as part of treatment regimen for advanced EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Previously, the injection was approved on a biweekly dosing schedule. — Lei Lei Wu 💶 Newron snags up to €38M: The biotech will get up to that amount from existing and new shareholders from Europe and Asia, Newron said Monday. The biotech is in late-stage testing in schizophrenia. — Kyle LaHucik 💵 Gelmedix gets $13M: The regenerative medicines biotech raised the seed funding from Safar Partners, HTL Biotechnology, Beacon Angels and others. The biotech is developing a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy for geographic atrophy. — Kyle LaHucik