Week of May 29, 2026

The Week at a Glance:

• Large Pharma Continues to Look Towards China: Pfizer’s up to $10.5B collaboration with Innovent Biologics for 12 early-stage oncology programs last week follows BMS’ up to $15.2B Hengrui Pharma deal, underscoring large pharma’s continued appetite for China-originated innovation

• Lilly’s Extended Shopping Spree: Eli Lilly announced three infectious disease acquisitions totaling up to $3.8B, underscoring the Company’s willingness to deploy GLP-1-driven financial capacity into pipeline diversification across modalities and therapeutic areas

• Strong Biotech IPO Candidates Continue to File: Kardigan, a cardiovascular-focused company led by former MyoKardia executives and advancing three late-stage clinical assets, filed for an IPO last week 

   

Markets Overview

The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow, were all up 1.4%, 2.4%, and 0.9%, respectively, over the last week

• Reports of a potential 60-day extension to the US-Iran ceasefire helped push major indices to record highs, as investors looked past softer Q1 GDP growth and April PCE inflation data that showed prices rising at the fastest pace in nearly three years

The NBI was up 1.7%, while the NYSE Pharma Index was flat on the week

Notable changes in share price:

Replimune (NASDAQ: REPL): Shares rose 67.1% after Replimune announced plans to resubmit the BLA for RP1, its oncolytic immunotherapy for advanced melanoma, following two prior CRLs; the move may suggest a more constructive regulatory path amid recent FDA leadership changes

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO

The IPO market remains open for high-quality clinical-stage biotech companies, as demonstrated by Kardigan, which has late-stage clinical assets and a management team that previously led MyoKardia through its $13.1B acquisition by BMS in 2020

There was one S-1 filed last week:

• Kardigan filed its S-1 for a proposed IPO to advance its late-stage precision cardiovascular pipeline, with lead asset danicamtiv currently in Phase 2b/3 for genetic dilated cardiomyopathy

IPOs priced in 2025 and 2026 have generated a median and average return of 6.6% and 21.1% YTD, respectively

After-Market Performance by Stage

• Clinical-stage after-market performance (N=18): 45.0% (average), 20.4% (median)

• Commercial-stage after-market performance (N=24): 1.7% (average), (5.4%) (median)

After-Market Performance by Sector

• Biopharma (N=18): 45.0% (average), 20.4% (median)

• MedTech (N=23): (5.4%) (average), (12.7%) (median)
  
  

Follow On

Follow-on activity was led by Editas Medicine, as biotechs continue to access the public markets to fund clinical-stage and platform development

There was one follow-on equity offering totaling $125.0M this week

• Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT) announced a $125.0M underwritten public offering of common stock and accompanying warrants to advance EDIT-401, including clinical development and manufacturing, and support working capital and general corporate purposes; EDIT-401 is Editas’ lead in vivo gene editing candidate, designed to significantly reduce LDL-cholesterol through LDL receptor upregulation, with the Company recently reporting preclinical data showing ~90% or greater mean reductions in LDL-C, Lp(a) and ApoB in non-human primates

PIPE/RDO Markets:

PIPE/RDO activity was muted last week, with Q32 Bio’s $55.0M PIPE being the largest; Q32’s PIPE proceeds support bempikibart ahead of mid-2026 Phase 2 AA data, as Q32 sharpens its alopecia areata focus after divesting ADX-097, a Phase 2 complement inhibitor for renal diseases

There were four PIPEs/RDOs last week raising an aggregate of $90.0M

• Q32 Bio (NASDAQ: QTTB) announced a $55.0M private placement led by BVF Partners to support development of bempikibart (ADX-914), its Phase 2 therapy for alopecia areata

Licensing

Licensing activity concentrates around oncology platform deals, CNS delivery, and medtech / digital health commercialization

• Pfizer’s $10.5B collaboration with Innovent highlights continued strategic interest in early-stage oncology platforms, particularly differentiated ADCs and multi-specific antibodies

• Additional activity centered on BBB-crossing protein delivery, ADC conjugation technology, personalized surgical recovery devices, and regional commercialization rights, reinforcing demand for enabling technologies and specialty-market access

M & A

M&A activity this week was driven by Lilly’s push into infectious disease vaccines and Olympus’ expansion in prostate cancer care

• Lilly announced three acquisitions totaling up to $3.83B across Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company, adding shingles, bacterial pathogen, and next-generation viral vaccine programs

• Olympus agreed to acquire BioProtect for $270.0M, adding a commercial biodegradable balloon spacer used to protect healthy tissue during prostate cancer radiation therapy

Venture Financing

Venture financing activity focused on gene editing, antimicrobial resistance, oncology diagnostics, and next-generation biologics, reinforcing investors’ appetite for differentiated platforms spanning therapeutic innovation, AI-enabled discovery, and earlier detection of serious disease

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