In a move that will grow its oncology pipeline, Gilead Sciences is spending more than $3 billion to buy the German biotech Tubulis, the companies said Tuesday.

The deal includes an upfront payment of $3.15 billion and up to $1.85 billion more if certain milestones are reached. It also highlights both the therapeutic and commercial promise of antibody-drug conjugates, the next-generation chemotherapy treatments that the privately held Tubulis is developing.

Gilead’s latest move comes just months after it said it would acquire Arcellx in a deal worth $7.8 billion. The two companies had already been working together on a multiple myeloma CAR-T therapy that could be approved later this year. Gilead last month also announced that it was buying Ouro Therapeutics, which is focused on drugs for autoimmune disease, for up to $2.18 billion.

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An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a life-threatening vascular condition with limited treatment options. 

Now, researchers from the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center have identified a driving force behind the condition, opening up a potential target for new therapies. Their paper uncovering the causal link between triglycerides and abdominal aortic aneurysms won the STAT Madness 2026 popular vote. 

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WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration used the president’s budget to propose policies aimed at encouraging domestic development and manufacturing of drugs.  

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has said the agency needs “giant, big ideas” to counter China’s dominance in early-stage clinical development of drugs. Among the FDA’s ideas are proposals to make it easier to run early-stage trials in the U.S. and to hand an advantage to U.S.-based generics manufacturers.

The Trump administration has been using a variety of policy levers to try and bring drug manufacturing to the U.S. For example, many of the brand drugmakers that struck deals to lower U.S. prices also promised to increase domestic manufacturing, under the threat of tariffs.

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Today’s the day

By law, the 2027 Medicare Advantage payment regulation must come out today. It will set the tone for how the Trump administration wants to work with the health insurance industry: as the “new sheriff in town” or just another friendly regulator.

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A four-month FDA delay prompted a cash-strapped biotech company to shutter. The White House’s proposed NIH cuts are drawing bipartisan backlash. Peptide hype is outpacing evidence. And more!

The need-to-know this morning

• Neurocrine Biosciences said this morning that it would buy Soleno Therapeutics and its treatment for Prader-Willi syndrome for $2.9 billion. Neurocrine is paying $53 a share for Soleno, a 34% premium to its closing price on Thursday.
  

A four-month FDA delay derailed a small biotech. Is it a sign of the times?

FDA delays can happen. For large drugmakers, they can be frustrating; for small drugmakers, they can be existential.

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