Video Marketing Intern

Halozyme prevails in patent fight with Merck; Enliven readies anticipated leukemia trial. A Dutch court barred Merck from selling subcutaneous Keytruda in several European countries. Elsewhere, an Insmed executive ended a seven-year run and two startups secured venture cash. Published Oct. 7, 2026 By BioPharma Dive staff Today, a brief rundown of news involving Merck & Co. and Enliven Therapeutics, as well as updates from Insmed, KymaThera and RougeTx that you may have missed. A Netherlands court has blocked sales of Merck & Co.'s subcutaneous cancer immunotherapy Keytruda Qlex in eight European countries by siding with Halozyme in an intellectual property dispute. According to Halozyme, the court ruled that Merck's drug infringed on patents covering a Halozyme technology capable of rapidly delivering large biologic molecules through under-the-skin injections. The Netherlands case is part of a broader offensive by Halozyme, which won a legal proceeding in Germany and is challenging Merck in a U.S. court. Unlike Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and Roche both partnered with Halozyme to develop subcutaneous versions of their cancer immunotherapies Opdivo and Tecentriq. The decision announced Wednesday "strengthens [Halozyme]'s position and could improve the potential path toward a future license or other economic resolution," wrote TD Cowen analyst Brendan Smith in a client note. - Jonathan Gardner Enliven Therapeutics has aligned with the Food and Drug Administration on the design of a late-stage study for its experimental chronic myeloid leukemia drug relcobatinib. Enliven's drug blocks the expression of a faulty gene that drives CML. It's emerging as a potential threat to Novartis' Scemblix and a therapy Merck acquired in a $6.7 billion acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals. The planned trial will enroll 450 people and test whether relcobatinib is superior to another drug from its class at spurring a "major molecular response," or reducing the number of diseased cells. In a client note, Jefferies analyst Maury Raycroft wrote that recent data updates from Enliven, combined with a slightly diminished outlook for Merck's drug, have improved the sentiment surrounding relcobatinib. - Jonathan Gardner Insmed Chief Financial Officer Sara Bonstein will step down from her position on Oct. 30, ending a seven-year run at the company. Insmed hasn't yet named a replacement and will begin a search for a successor, the company said Monday. Bonstein will stay on board for the next few weeks to ensure a "smooth transition" through Insmed's third-quarter results. Insmed's value has grown substantially over the course of Bonstein's tenure, as the company transitioned into a commercial-stage company with growing product sales. The company reaffirmed its full-year financial guidance on Monday. - Delilah Alvarado KymaThera has raised $80 million in a Series B round that will go toward a treatment for vascular malformations and cancers driven by PI3Kα mutations. Dubbed K-1728, KymaThera's prospect is initially being evaluated as a standalone treatment for the former condition and as part of a combination regimen in HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. KymaThera expects to start Phase 1 testing in the fourth quarter. The Series B round was led by Alta Partners, and involved contributions from Foresite Capital, Venrock and J. Wood Capital, among others. The startup has now raised over $100 million in venture funding. - Delilah Alvarado RougeTx, a new biotech startup, launched with a $58 million Series A round that will help advance an experimental treatment for a rare bleeding disorder. RougeTx is working on a once-daily oral medication for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, a condition that spurs the formation of abnormal blood vessels and that's become a popular target among young drugmakers. Its prospect, RTX-001, is designed to reattach key structural support cells called pericytes to the walls of blood vessels. - Ben Fidler

New Modular method speeds up antiviral drug discovery. Scientists at Simon Fraser University's Britton Lab and biopharmaceutical firm Merck have developed a modular, light-driven chemical approach to accelerate the synthesis of nucleoside analogues - vital molecular lookalikes used in antiviral medications - reducing production timelines from months to mere weeks and generating test libraries 10 to 100 times larger than previously practical. Light-Driven method simplifies nucleoside analogue production. * What are nucleoside analogues? They are lab-made molecular lookalikes of the natural building blocks of DNA and RNA. Viruses mistakenly absorb them, which disrupts their genetic replication and stops them from reproducing. * Why does this research matter? Traditional manufacturing of these drugs requires a grueling sequence of 15 or more chemical steps, often yielding less than two percent usable product. This new method builds a versatile core piece that joins with various molecular fragments in a single visible-light-driven step. * What was achieved? Researchers successfully built a library of more than 70 analogues in weeks, identifying three compounds with promising anti-HIV activity in early cell-based assays. Overcoming the bottlenecks of traditional antiviral manufacturing. Discover more Sports news website When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, doctors turned to remdesivir, a member of the nucleoside analogue drug family. These medications are used in treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis, and some cancers. Despite their importance, the arsenal for combating viral infections remains remarkably limited. This scarcity explains why new viral outbreaks cause so much alarm. For nearly a decade, the Britton Lab at Simon Fraser University has pursued faster ways for constructing these intricate molecules. In 2020, the research group published a methodology that bypassed traditional multi-step hurdles, compressing the synthesis timeline from months down to approximately one week. Now, building upon that foundational work in a study published in the journal Science, researchers partnered with scientists at Merck to introduce a modular manufacturing platform designed to transform a single, inexpensive starting material into an expansive array of finished drug candidates. Accelerating discovery through visible-light chemistry. Nucleoside analogues function by tricking cells and invading viral pathogens into incorporating fake molecular building blocks rather than authentic ones. Historically, chemists initiated this process with naturally occurring sugar molecules, executing rigid, linear sequences often exceeding 15 discrete chemical reactions to yield a single target molecule. Modifying the molecular structure to improve efficacy required restarting the entire sequence from the beginning. For instance, early manufacturing of remdesivir yielded less than two percent of the starting material as a usable drug. Discover more Real-time news updates Journalism & News Industry This one-at-a-time paradigm contrasts sharply with contemporary pharmaceutical screening requirements, which typically demand the evaluation of thousands of related molecular candidates to isolate viable therapeutic leads. The compound collection that led to remdesivir contained roughly 1,000 candidates - a modest library by industry standards that required substantial corporate resources and many years of assembly. To prepare for future viral threats, researchers must generate and screen larger, more diverse molecular libraries as quickly as possible. The newly unveiled platform subverts traditional synthetic pathways. Instead of constructing every target molecule independently from scratch, investigators utilize an amino acid catalyst to synthesize a versatile core intermediate equipped with a chemical connector. This intermediate can be mass-produced and stockpiled. Subsequently, a single-step reaction powered by ordinary visible light couples this core to a multitude of molecular fragments, producing distinct nucleoside analogues in parallel. | Parameter | Traditional Synthesis | New Modular Platform | | Synthesis Timeline | Months to years per library | Weeks | | Reaction Steps | 15 or more sequential steps | Reduced to as few as six steps | | Library Scale | Approx. 1,000 candidates (e.g., remdesivir) | 10x to 100x larger collections | | Core Intermediate | None (built from scratch each time) | Batch-produced and stored for rapid use | Translating synthetic innovations into antiviral leads. Discover more World news coverage Sports event tickets Employing this visible-light strategy, the research team rapidly assembled a library exceeding 70 nucleoside analogues. The collection incorporated structural refinements - such as replacing standard oxygen atoms in the sugar ring with sulfur or nitrogen atoms - that typically present synthetic difficulties but can have a huge effect on biological activity. The team also engineered variants designed to get inside cells more easily, mirroring the strategies utilized by remdesivir and another drug used to treat hepatitis. While generating more than 70 molecules represents an initial proof-of-concept rather than an exhaustive industrial screening campaign, the methodology successfully transformed previously arduous synthetic routes. A compound requiring 16 separate synthetic steps under legacy methods was successfully synthesized in merely six steps using the new platform. These newly generated compounds were subsequently evaluated in cell-based assays directed by Ralph Pantophlet's laboratory at Simon Fraser University. Laboratory testing identified three standout compounds capable of blocking HIV about as effectively as some of the medications already approved to treat it. While transitioning these laboratory leads through preclinical evaluations and human clinical trials remains a long path, establishing a rapid-generation platform alters the foundational economics and timeline of antiviral drug discovery. Patients must rely on approved viral regimens. Because this research remains in the preclinical, laboratory-testing phase, these novel compounds possess no established clinical dosages, side-effect profiles, or human safety data. Patients currently managing viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis must rely exclusively on approved regimens prescribed by licensed infectious disease specialists. Unverified chemical analogues or experimental precursors must never be consumed. Individuals experiencing symptoms of acute viral illness or managing chronic infections should consult their primary care physician or local public health clinic immediately for evidence-based diagnostics and standard-of-care therapeutics. Future trajectories in antiviral preparedness. The transition from academic bench chemistry to scalable pharmaceutical manufacturing requires overcoming substantial regulatory and pharmacokinetic hurdles. While the Britton Lab platform demonstrates that generating diverse molecular libraries in weeks rather than years is chemically feasible, the path from an in vitro cell assay to a regulated clinical candidate involves extensive toxicological evaluation, pharmacokinetic profiling, and phased human trials. The open question facing the scientific community is how rapidly these accelerated synthesis platforms can be integrated into global pandemic preparedness frameworks to counter emerging pathogens before regional outbreaks escalate. References. * Science Journal: Collaborative research between Simon Fraser University and Merck.

Vaxcyte claims success in bid to beat Pfizer and Merck in lucrative vaccine market. Biotech company's pneumococcal vaccine hit primary endpoints in late-stage study. Oct. 5, 2026 General Assignment Reporter Vaxcyte said Monday that its experimental pneumococcal vaccine hit the primary endpoints in a Phase 3 clinical trial, setting up the California-based biotech to compete with Pfizer and Merck. Vaxcyte's shot, VAX-31, is designed to protect against 31 serotypes, or strains, of bacteria that can cause pneumococcal disease, including pneumonia, compared to 20 strains for Pfizer's Prevnar and 21 strains for Merck's Capvaxive. In the trial, just over 3,500 adults age 50 and older were randomized to receive VAX-31, Prevnar, or Capvaxive. Investigators then measured the strength of their antibody responses against different strains.