Here are the latest stories being discussed in biopharma today:

1. “Novo Nordisk Collaborates with Swiss Biotech”
Novo Nordisk has partnered with Swiss biotech EraCal Therapeutics to develop a new experimental obesity pill. The oral small molecule developed by EraCal targets a novel mechanism that controls appetite and body weight. The licensing deal involving an upfront payment could reach €235 million (~$255 million) in potential milestones payments.

2. “FDA Requires New Warnings on CAR-Ts”
A safety review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has resulted in new mandated boxed warnings outlining the risk of secondary cancers for six Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies. Novartis, Gilead, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson will be required to include warnings on their product labels.

3. “Sanofi Acquires Inhibrx for $1.7B”
Sanofi has acquired Inhibrx for $1.7 billion in a bid to add its potential best-in-class therapy for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) to its rare disease pipeline. Sanofi will keep only Inhibrx’s lead drug INBRX-101 and will spin out all other programmes into a separate company called New Inhibrx. The deal increases Sanofi’s stake in New Inhibrx to 8%.

4. “Merck Strikes Deal with Unnatural Products; Other Industry Moves”
Merck has joined forces with Unnatural Products to develop macrocyclic therapies for cancer, in a deal worth up to $220 million. Meanwhile, CG Oncology increased its Initial Public Offering from 11.8 million to 17 million shares, in the hopes of raising roughly $262.8 million from its NASDAQ debut.

5. “Accent Therapeutics raises $75M to Start Clinical Trials”
Cancer biotech Accent Therapeutics has received $75 million in Series C funding from three major pharmaceutical companies, among other investors. The funds will give Accent the financial boost it needs to take its first two precision oncology small molecules into early clinical trials.