Sanegene Bio (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

The pill version of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster Wegovy showed what was possible when drug chemists turned peptides into oral molecules. Now investors have found their next related bet. Pinnacle Medicines, a two-year-old startup based in Shanghai with operations outside Philadelphia, has attracted an $89 million Series B, the company said Thursday. It has raised $134 million to bring its immunology and cardiometabolic medicines into human testing. The startup hopes to follow in the footsteps of other oral peptides in the cardiometabolic and immunology fields that have consumed recent headlines, Pinnacle CEO Jonathan Wang said in an interview. Those includes Novo’s oral Wegovy and Johnson & Johnson’s psoriasis pill Icotyde. “We’re really developing the next generation oral peptides serving large markets, and it’s moving very quickly,” Wang said. Wang became CEO on Jan. 1 and immediately went to work on securing the Series B, which was larger than initially planned. Pinnacle’s raise adds to a series of Shanghai biotechs reeling in relatively large capital hauls as China’s drug R&D ecosystem takes center stage. Excalipoint Therapeutics , Cascade Pharmaceuticals , SanegeneBio and others have recently corralled money for their pipelines. Bankrolling Pinnacle’s R&D is a mixture of US and Asia investors, including LAV, Foresite Capital, OrbiMed, Quan Capital, Hankang Capital, RA Capital Management and Logos Capital. OrbiMed , RA Capital and Foresite have been funders of Chinese biotechs, or their spinouts , for years. By the end of this year, Pinnacle plans to be in the clinic with its first asset, an oral peptide for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Wang said. The drug goes against an undisclosed target. After that, Pinnacle aims to test a next-generation weight-loss pill, Wang said. The CEO declined to disclose the target of that peptide but said it goes after a muscle-preserving target that is currently being explored by biologics and might also have benefits in other conditions such as heart failure. There’s precedent to this approach: another biotech, Unnatural Products, has expressed interest in creating an oral version of Eli Lilly’s obesity drug, bimagrumab. Unnatural, a decade-old biotech that has yet to enter the clinic, disclosed a $45 million Series B last week. Many drugmakers are also looking at developing oral small molecules in the obesity space, rather than oral peptides. Novo has done multiple deals to make oral obesity drugs, including a small molecule from Lexicon Pharmaceuticals that entered Phase 1 this week. Meanwhile, rival Lilly expects an FDA decision any day now on its obesity pill orforglipron, and Structure Therapeutics is headed toward late-stage testing. Pinnacle also has projects in the works for inflammatory bowel disease, atopic dermatitis and other areas, Wang said. It’s even exploring bispecific oral peptides. The 20-employee cross-border startup is still deciding which avenue to take for clinical testing and whether to start in the US or China, Wang said. “Speed and quality” are the most important, he said.

Another blow to the OX40 class, Roche's latest RNAi deal, and the discontinuation of a next-gen ADC at Daiichi Sankyo make our news this week. Amgen added to uncertainty surrounding the OX40 drug class by returning an autoimmune candidate to Kyowa Kirin. Roche penned a deal worth up to $1.7 billion for an RNA interference program from SanegeneBio. Daiichi Sankyo stopped development of its first non-DXd candidate. And more.1. Amgen jilts Kyowa, exiting $400M autoimmune pact after running vast pivotal programThe prospect of the OX40 class for autoimmune disease is suddenly looking bleak. After Sanofi reported mixed phase 3 atopic dermatitis data on amlitelimab, including a case of Kaposi’s sarcoma, Amgen has terminated its rocatinlimab collaboration with Kyowa Kirin. While Kyowa attributed the decision to portfolio reasons at Amgen, the Japanese pharma later disclosed a case of Kaposi’s sarcoma as well.2. Roche's return to RNA continues with $1.7B deal for Sanegene programRoche is paying $200 million upfront for an RNA interference program from Sino-American biotech SanegeneBio. The target and disease area were not disclosed. Sanegene could be in line for up to $1.5 billion in development and sales milestones. The deal came as Roche and another RNAi partner, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, moved their hypertension candidate zilebesiran into phase 3 testing.3. Daiichi stops internal development of next-wave ADC as key Datroway readout delayed againDaiichi Sankyo has discontinued internal development of DS-9606, the first candidate based on the company’s second antibody-drug conjugate platform using a modified pyrrolobenzodiazepine (mPBD) payload. Daiichi suggested the CLDN6-directed candidate has shown some good early data in the germ cell tumor setting that has “confirmed the utility” of the mPBD platform.4. India will invest $1.1B to boost development of biologics, biosimilarsIndia is launching the Biopharma Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation (SHAKTI) initiative, which is designed to support the domestic development of biologics. The country will invest 100 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) over the next five years to increase research and production of biologic drugs.5. Chugai drops only AI-assisted antibody from pipeline but still holds high hopes for techRoche’s Chugai has nixed its only clinical candidate that was discovered with the help of an in-house artificial intelligence tool called Malexa. The phase 1 chronic disease antibody BRY10 was dropped from the pipeline “based on a comprehensive review” of data, a Chugai spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the discontinuation was unrelated to Malexa itself.6. Astellas tops expectations as Vyloy sales surge outshines trial setbackAstellas’ quarterly sales beat analysts’ consensus by 8% thanks to strong performance from cancer drugs Padcev and Vyloy. As the first FDA-approved CLDN18.2 agent, Vyloy saw sales quadruple to about $125 million in the last three months of 2025, even as the drug hit a midstage setback in pancreatic cancer. Astellas also discontinued a KRAS G12D protein degrader in favor of another.Other News of Note: 7. Roche diagnostics business nudges up 2% in '25 as China headwinds buffet Asia-Pacific sales8. FDA emphasizes drug ingredients, production pledges as it debuts PreCheck manufacturing program9. AZ, Daiichi nab priority review tag as Datroway homes in on next FDA nod (regulatory tracker)10. Sun Pharma marks Super Bowl ‘SUNday’ with skin cancer awareness drive11. China's Newsoara pens $135M deal for remaining rights to vTv's inflammation drug12. Eisai nabs rights to sell Henlius’ PD-1 in Japan for $75M upfront (release)

- SanegeneBio grants exclusive worldwide license to one of its RNAi programs to Genentech - SanegeneBio to receive $200 million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive development and commercialization milestone payments, totaling up to $1.5 billion, plus tiered royalties - Genentech will be responsible for the subsequent clinical development and commercialization globally Feb. 2, 2026 -- SanegeneBio, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative RNAi therapeutics, today announced a global licensing agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to advance one of its RNAi programs based on its proprietary RNAi platform. Under the agreement, SanegeneBio grants Genentech exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the program. SanegeneBio will be responsible for early development activities and Genentech will subsequently lead all future clinical development and commercialization activities. SanegeneBio's proprietary RNAi platform includes novel chemistries and delivery technologies that can be utilized to generate potential breakthrough siRNA medicines for multiple disease areas. "Entering into this agreement with Genentech marks another important milestone for our innovative and differentiated RNAi chemistry and delivery platforms," said Weimin Wang, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SanegeneBio. "We are delighted to work with a global scientific leader to continue delivering effective and life-changing therapies for patients worldwide." Under the terms of the agreement, SanegeneBio will receive an upfront payment of $200 million and will be eligible to receive development and commercialization milestone payments, totaling up to $1.5 billion, as well as tiered royalties on potential future product sales. SanegeneBio is a global, venture-backed, fully-integrated biotechnology company focused on developing RNAi-based therapeutics. Founded in 2021 and led by a team of RNAi veterans, the company has R&D operations in Boston, Shanghai and Suzhou. Their clear vision is that RNAi technology will power blockbuster medicines in diverse therapeutic areas, improving the quality and longevity of life for patients worldwide. This vision is being realized by advancing a fast-growing pipeline, which includes experimental medicines for autoimmune nephropathies, obesity, and cardiometabolic indications. SanegeneBio has initiated clinical trials for four experimental medicines to-date, and is committed to developing potential best-in-class and first-in-class therapeutics which leverage our industry-leading and differentiated LEAD™ tissue-selective RNAi delivery technology. The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.