#67 – Assassinations, acquisitions, and autoimmune ambition
The coffee break biotech roundup, by SomX.
Hello, my law-abiding lab rats,
This week’s roundup is one for the true crime podcasts lovers: a biotech CEO orders a hit on his former business partner; the UK government gives in to pharma’s pricing demands, Nilo Therapeutics tries to rewire the immune system through the brain, Sanofi’s radiotherapy data looks rather glowing, and a gout contender secures $153M to make walking hurt a little less.
Keep your enemies close and your endpoints closer,
Dodo
If there’s anything you’d like to see in future editions of Biotech Dodo, send us a message.
Discover 🔍
🧑⚕️ NHS could pay 25% more for medicines under plan to end row with drugmakers and Trump (The Guardian): The UK’s long-running stand-off with drugmakers may finally end with a hefty concession: a higher NICE cost-effectiveness threshold, lifting the £20,000–£30,000 range by 25%. The shift could funnel an extra £2.5bn a year to pharma, following £13.5bn in repayments over three years and a wave of cancelled UK investments. Ministers frame it as pragmatism; critics call it a costly surrender. Read NICE’s press release here.
Our take: NICE’s threshold has long been the lodestar for drug pricing worldwide, grounding policy in data rather than diplomacy. Debate about the threshold is healthy and ongoing, but raising it now – under pressure from both pharma and politics – may have unintended consequences. While this move may help higher-priced drugs reach patients in the NHS, it risks straining an already overstretched NHS budget.
🦶 Arthrosi bags $153M to bring gout candidate over the clinical finish line (First Word Pharma): The Series E funding led by Prime Eight Capital to advance pozdeutinurad an inhibitor for gout, through two fully enrolled Phase III trials. The studies each include 750 patients testing 50 or 75mg doses vs placebo over 12 months, targeting significant serum urate reduction by month six. Pivotal data are expected in Q2 2026. Phase II data suggested the drug may avoid kidney toxicity issues that plagued earlier URAT1 inhibitors.
Our take: Standard gout drugs leave 30-40% undertreated. URAT1 inhibitors block kidney reabsorption instead of production, but failed on safety. Pozdeutinurad’s deuteration may rescue the mechanism. The real story is that a $153M Series E for a me-too drug suggests acquisition positioning over independent commercialisation. Timeline points to Q2 2026 readout as potential inflection point for majors seeking second-line or combination assets.
🤑 Venture firms pour $101M into a biotech using the brain to fix the immune system (BioPharma Dive): Nilo Therapeutics has burst onto the scene with a $101m Series A, co-led by DCVC Bio, Lux Capital and The Column Group, with the Gates Foundation chipping in for good measure. Founded by Charles Zuker, Ruslan Medzhitov and Stephen Liberles, the startup plans to target neural circuits that steer immune behaviour, turning years of brain–immune theory into actual therapeutics for inflammatory disease.
Our take: Most anti-inflammatories quiet the immune system after the alarm is ringing; Nilo is heading for the wiring that starts the conversation. Its founders are betting on the vagus nerve and brain–body circuitry that regulates inflammation through constant feedback, reframing immunity as a dialogue rather than a battle. If these loops prove druggable, they could form a new control axis across rheumatoid arthritis, IBD and lupus.
☢️ Sanofi’s $110M radioligand therapy hits response rate goal in phase 2 tumour trial (Fierce Pharma): Sanofi’s €100m alpha-emitting radioligand, AlphaMedix, has produced encouraging phase 2 data in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs). The therapy improved progression-free and overall survival while maintaining a tolerable safety profile, outperforming earlier beta-based approaches. The results now move Sanofi into regulatory discussions and revive hopes that alpha particles – long viewed as too unruly for systemic use – might finally be ready for prime time.
Our take: Current beta-emitters achieve ~18% response rates but cause collateral damage as beta particles travel millimetres through tissue, hitting healthy cells alongside tumours. Alpha emitters travel just 50-100 micrometres, offering sniper-rifle precision. Sanofi’s real bet is solving alpha therapy’s decades-old delivery and safety problems. If the “manageable safety profile” holds in phase 3, this becomes a platform across targets such as prostate and breast cancers.
And finally…
💀 California biotech tycoon found guilty of plotting murder of rival (NewsBytes): Once a self‑styled biotech visionary and failed magician known as Dr. No, Serhat Gumrukcu spun illusions far beyond the stage, duping investors, regulators, and Hollywood elites into believing he’d found a cure for HIV. A Vermont jury found the 42‑year‑old founder of Enochian BioSciences guilty of orchestrating the murder‑for‑hire of Gregory Davis, a former business partner.
Our take: Between the 2018 murder and 2022 arrest, Enochian remained publicly traded with Gumrukcu as CEO, raising $35M while under federal investigation. This exposes a structural gap in governance. The industry has fraud detection and assumes founders might lie about data or financials, not orchestrate murders. This means that there’s no mechanism to respond to executive criminality until arrest. By then, the capital has been deployed, and patients are potentially exposed to drugs overseen by someone with severely compromised judgment.
Tune in 🎧
💰 Raising money in uncertain times: how Splice Bio secured $135 million for its gene therapy play: Hear Splice Bio’s Chief Business Officer, Gerard Caelles, share the practical steps for biotechs to successfully raise big rounds, from engaging the right investors to keeping existing backers onboard, and assembling the team that closed their investment deal.
💬 25 Interview mistakes biotech candidates keep making (and how to fix them fast): Carina shares a tactical playbook to avoid the 25 interview mistakes that cost candidates offers – learning how to communicate with clarity, anchor answers with measurable outcomes, and deliver concise, high‑impact responses that win roles across R&D, Clinical, Quality, and G&A.
💊 Transforming drug discovery and disease research – One cell at a time: Learn how the ARC Virtual Cell Atlas, built by ARC Institute with 10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics, uses AI and single‑cell genomics to map cellular behaviour from hundreds of millions of cells.
Apply ✍️
🤝 Biotech Client Partner – Regulatory, Drug Development, Clinical, Consulting and Real-World Strategy, EMEA, IQVIA: Fancy advising the biotech C-suite without the boardroom boredom? You’ll stitch together strategy, regulation, RWE, and delivery ops – translating vision into action, and action into revenue across EMEA.
🧑🔬 Partnering Lead - Immunology, UCB: Got a nose for promising science? Sniff out the next big things in immunology, lead early deals, and bring fresh ideas into UCB’s fold – from in-licensing to collaborations and beyond.
🔬 Senior Consultant- Life Sciences- Clinical Trials, Capgemini: Good at seeing structure in the chaos of clinical R&D? Use AI, strategy, and a touch of regulatory wisdom to help clients get therapies moving – and coach others to do the same.
RSVP 📆
🤝 15.10 | HealthTech Founders & Innovators Meetup | Manchester, UK: An evening of high-value networking. No pitches, no panels, just authentic connections with founders, medtech engineers, clinicians, researchers, and developers in healthtech.
🧪 21-22.10 | Drug Discovery 2025 – A festival of life science | Liverpool, UK: Europe’s largest drug discovery meet returns to Liverpool. Two days of talks, 200+ exhibitors and careers support. Free to attend.
🌍 11-12.11 | Global Pharma and Biotech Summit | London, UK: Two days of keynotes and panels with innovators, investors and C-suite – covering drug discovery, clinical trials, market access and patient engagement.
SomX is a communications and creative agency for healthcare. We are clinicians, scientists, creatives and communicators dedicated to serving our healthtech, biotech, pharma and public sector clients with services across strategy, content, PR, design, events and media production. Get in touch to learn more.