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Market Update for Week of September 5, 2025
The Week at a Glance:
Hopes rise for rate cuts: The S&P 500 and NASDAQ finished the shorter trading week up 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively, thanks to a weak August job report that bolstered expectations for a rate cut in September
Novartis doubles down on RNAi: Novartis inked two licensing deals last week around RNA interference modalities; the first was with Arrowhead for its preclinical siRNA drug targeting Parkinson’s for $200.0M upfront and $2.0B in milestones, while the second was for Argo Biopharmaceuticals’ RNAi asset in Phase 2 targeting dyslipidemia along with two discovery stage compounds for $160.0M upfront and $5.2B in milestones
Novartis’ deal with Argo Biopharmaceuticals highlights the continued trend this year of large pharma in-licensing assets from China