Daily briefings
Editor’s Briefing: October 20, 2026
In Short. Rapport Therapeutics said its pill RAP-219 eased the symptoms of acute bipolar mania in a mid-stage trial. Merck KGaA agreed to buy Silence Therapeutics for $1.3bn, and Roche signed a large cancer-drug licensing deal with Hansoh.
Rapport’s pill eases bipolar mania in a mid-stage trial
BIPOLAR MANIA is a phase of bipolar disorder in which mood, energy and impulsive behavior rise to a level that often needs a hospital stay. On Tuesday morning Rapport Therapeutics said RAP-219, a once-daily pill, met the main goal of a placebo-controlled trial in 253 adults with acute mania treated in hospital for three weeks (Rapport release). The trial measured symptoms with the Young Mania Rating Scale, which runs from 0 to 60. Scores fell by 15.4 points on the drug and 12.3 on placebo, a gap of 3.1 points (p=0.045). About half of the patients in each group reported side effects, and slightly more on the drug than on placebo stopped treatment because of them. The drug blocks a brain receptor only in regions where it carries a protein called TARPγ8. Rapport plans to meet the Food and Drug Administration early in 2027 and start two Phase 3 trials later that year.
Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics
Merck KGaA, the German company that operates in America as EMD Serono, agreed on Monday to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per American depositary share in cash, an equity value of about $1.3bn (Merck KGaA release). The price is 82% above Silence’s average over the previous 30 days. The main asset is divesiran, an injection given every three months that silences a gene called TMPRSS6 in order to limit the iron available for making red blood cells. It is aimed at polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer in which the body makes too many red cells and patients often need blood drawn to lower their count. In a Phase 2 trial, most patients on divesiran responded, against about one in five on placebo. The deal is due to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Roche returns to Hansoh for a second cancer-drug deal
Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are antibodies that carry a toxic drug to cells bearing a chosen surface protein. Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese drugmaker listed in Hong Kong, said on Monday that Roche will license a set of its ADC programs, two already in preclinical work and others built on targets Roche proposes (Hansoh release). Hansoh will receive $400m upfront and $110m after a year, and could earn more than $15bn in milestone payments plus royalties. Hansoh will run development through early human trials and keep rights in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, while Roche takes the programs elsewhere. The two companies signed their first ADC deal a year ago.
The FDA approves a new way of making Alvotech’s Humira copy
A biosimilar is a close copy of a biological drug whose patents have expired. Alvotech said on Tuesday that the FDA approved a new manufacturing process for Simlandi, its biosimilar of AbbVie’s Humira, an antibody used for arthritis and other inflammatory diseases (Alvotech release). The process more than doubles the amount of drug made in each batch at one production suite in Reykjavik without making the equipment larger, so the same supply needs fewer batches. Alvotech said the spare capacity can go to its other products. On October 5th the FDA had approved that suite for making Simlandi for the American market.
Veradermics’ hair-loss pill succeeds in a second large trial
Minoxidil is a drug long used as a scalp lotion for hair loss. Veradermics said on Monday that VDPHL01, a slow-release minoxidil pill, met every main and secondary goal of a Phase 3 trial in 536 men with mild to moderate pattern hair loss (Veradermics release). After six months, men taking it once a day gained 28.6 hairs per square centimeter and those taking it twice a day 36.4, against 6.6 on placebo. The company reported no serious side effects linked to the drug and no heart-related events of special interest. With an earlier trial, the company now has six months of placebo-controlled data from more than 1,000 men.