Huashen Zhiyao Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

Akari Therapeutics, an oncology biotechnology company based in Tampa, Florida and London, has announced a strategic partnership with WuXi XDC , a contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) specializing in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), to advance development of Akari's proprietary PH1 payload. The PH1 payload is a spliceosome modulator designed to disrupt RNA splicing in cancer cells, which the company said represents a differentiated mechanism from traditional ADC payloads such as microtubule inhibitors or DNA-damaging agents. According to Akari, the payload is designed to activate both the innate and adaptive immune systems in addition to direct cytotoxicity, while demonstrating superior anti-tumor regression and complete remissions relative to other ADCs in preclinical studies. Akari's lead program, AKTX-101, initially targets metastatic urothelial cancer where the company said there is significant unmet medical need in the second-line treatment setting. A Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to initiate in late 2026 or early 2027, subject to regulatory clearance, according to the announcement. The collaboration builds on recent activity at WuXi XDC. Last month, the company entered a strategic collaboration with Earendil Labs valued at up to $885 million, granting Earendil an exclusive global license to its WuXiTecan-2 payload-linker technology platform for use in AI-driven ADC development across cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other conditions.

iStock, AndreyPopov Anthropic in October last year iterated its Claude AI model to better cater to biopharma purposes. Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, AbbVie and others already use Claude in their operations. AI leader Anthropic is pushing further into the life sciences space by acquiring the New York–based startup Coefficient Bio for around $400 million. The biotech, which currently has fewer than 10 employees, will be absorbed into Anthropic’s healthcare team, according to The Information , which broke the news on Thursday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. BioSpace has reached out to Anthropic for independent confirmation. Much about the deal remains under wraps. An exact value wasn’t disclosed by The Information ’s source, nor is it clear when the companies plan to close the transaction. The source also didn’t specify what Coefficient brings to the table and how the acquisition will enrich Anthropic’s AI operations in the life sciences. For the most part, Coefficient has been operating under stealth. Its website contains no information about its platform and its LinkedIn page is sparse, listing just a handful of people associated with the startup. BioSpace ’s inquiry email bounced. Coefficient’s co-founders, Nathan Frey and Samuel Stanton , had both previously worked on machine learning at Roche’s Genentech. Stanton on his LinkedIn pro that he is currently a full-time member of Anthropic’s technical staff. Coefficient’s CEO is Aris Theologis , who had previously held leadership roles at Evozyne and Paragon Biosciences. For Anthropic, the Coefficient acquisition builds on its efforts to enter the healthcare space. In October 2025, the AI giant launched Claude Life Sciences, an iteration of its machine learning model specifically designed to help professionals across the biopharma industry, covering scientists, clinical trial coordinators and regulatory managers. Some of the largest pharma companies, including Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and AbbVie , use Claude in their operations. The acquisition also comes as biopharma increasingly incorporates AI into its business and as industry giants invest heavily into the tech. Just last week, for instance, Eli Lilly bet up to $2.75 billion to expand its engagement with Insilico Medicine, leveraging the biotech’s AI-driven engine to design oral drugs for a clutch of unspecified indications. Artificial intelligence AI Is Changing Pharma’s Bottom Line Now—But Not Through Splashy Drug Discovery Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca are all ramping up the use of AI, but drug discovery is not the primary success story—yet. February 11, 2026 · 8 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read more A week earlier, Earendil Labs brought in $787 million in a private placement backed by Sanofi and Pfizer—money that will feed into the biotech’s AI platform, which to date has already generated more than 40 programs. AI has also helped reinvigorate biopharma’s IPO market, according to experts interviewed by BioSpace , who noted that startups can use advanced algorithms to better make their case to investors, who in turn can use these models to better assess their risk. “The companies drawing the most serious investor attention right now, regardless if they’ve IPO’d, share a common characteristic: they’re using AI not just as a discovery accelerator, but as a risk communication tool,” Tyrone Lam, chief business officer at GATC Health, an AI-centric tech-bio company, told BioSpace in an email earlier this month. Artificial intelligence Biotech IPOs Rebound as AI Takes a More Central Role in Drug Development The recent uptick in IPOs is an encouraging signal after a drought for much of 2025. Experts point to AI as a driving force behind this resurgence. April 1, 2026 · 6 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more

WILMINGTON, Del., April 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Earendil Labs, an AI-driven biotechnology company advancing next-generation biologics, today announced the first patient has been dosed in a Phase IIa clinical trial of HXN-1001, a half-life extended anti-TL1A antibody, in patients with ulcerative colitis, as well as enrollment completion in the Phase I trial of the antibody in healthy volunteers carried out in Australia. The Phase IIa trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy of HXN-1001 in ulcerative colitis patients. HXN-1001 is a half-life extended, next generation anti-TL1A antibody with great potential for the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. In preclinical studies, HXN-1001 has demonstrated more potent efficacies in multiple in vitro assays and animal models than several benchmark products currently under clinical development. Besides the extended in vivo half-life, HXN-1001 is formulated at a high protein concentration for subcutaneous injection. Taken together, HXN-1001 represents a potentially more efficacious and more convenient treatment option for IBD patients. "In the Phase I study in healthy volunteers, HXN-1001 in single doses up to 1200 mg and multiple doses of 450 mg was well tolerated with a favorable safety profile. The antibody showed a half-life of about 8 weeks when dosed in the projected therapeutic dose range, with low incidence of anti-drug antibody response." Zhenping Zhu, MD, PhD, President & Co-CEO of Earendil Labs, commented, "We are working diligently to advance HXN-1001 clinical programs in a hope to bring a new and efficacious therapeutic option for IBD patients expeditiously." Jian Peng, PhD, CEO of Earendil Labs, stated, "The progression of HXN-1001 clinical development is a significant step on our pursuit of developing next-generation best-in-class biologic therapeutics in the treatment of patients suffering from IBD. We look forward to working closely with the clinical investigators and the IBD community to advance our development programs globally and to fully realize the great potential of HXN-1001." About Earendil Labs Earendil Labs is an AI-driven biotechnology company advancing next-generation biologics for patients with autoimmune diseases, cancer, and other areas of significant unmet medical need. By integrating artificial intelligence across the full R&D lifecycle, Earendil Labs and its affiliate Helixon Therapeutics have been building a scalable engine to systematically generate and advance high-quality therapeutic programs. The company's AI-native approach enables efficient creation, optimization, and progression of protein-based biologics with the potential to be first-in-class and best-in-class, translating computational innovation into real clinical and patient impact. Through a combination of internal pipeline development and strategic partnerships, Earendil Labs aims to deliver transformative medicines to patients worldwide. SOURCE Earendil Labs 21% more press release views with Request a Demo