Gilead Goes All-In on ADCs, Merck's Hidden $1B Discount, and Lilly Launches Its Oral GLP-1 – This Week in Biotech #95
The oral GLP-1 race officially starts at $149/month, and updated leukemia data quietly reshaped a blockbuster acquisition (April 3-9, 2026).
Welcome back to This Week in Biotech by Biotech Blueprint, edition 95, covering biotech and biopharma news from April 3rd to 9th, 2026.
🎙️ Biotech Blueprint brings you weekly video updates on the latest biotech and pharma news, plus in-depth podcast interviews with industry leaders. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. If you want to be featured on our podcast, get in touch.
🌐 For consulting inquiries, please email us or visit BiotechBlueprintConsulting.com.
👥 If you haven’t already, please connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn.
VIDEO SUMMARY
THIS WEEK’S KEY TAKEAWAYS 🔑
Gilead committed another $3.15 billion upfront to acquire Tubulis, an antibody-drug conjugate company, bringing its total dealmaking this year to roughly $11 billion across three transactions. Meanwhile, the backstory on Merck’s Terns acquisition finally came out via SEC filings. Merck originally offered $61 per share, updated trial data on TERN-701 showed a lower response rate than previously disclosed, the competing bidder walked away, and the deal settled at $53 after Terns negotiated up from Merck’s revised $50 offer. The final price still looks cheap to most analysts, but the process showed that even highly anticipated assets get repriced when data gets more nuanced in due diligence.
Lilly launched Foundayo with self-pay pricing starting at $149 per month, and the commercial argument centers on convenience - no food or water timing restrictions, fast fulfillment, and an accessible entry price. The competition between Lilly and Novo Nordisk has shifted from clinical trial comparisons to adherence, payer contracts, and logistics, and that dynamic will play out over years.
On the science side, Roche and C4 Therapeutics expanded their collaboration into degrader antibody conjugates, combining targeted delivery with payload biology that destroys disease-causing proteins rather than just blocking them. Still preclinical, but the investment in the concept is notable. Clinical results elsewhere were mixed. Sanofi’s lunsekimig won in airway disease but missed in atopic dermatitis, and Insmed dropped another indication for Brinsupri after a mid-stage failure. Capital is going to programs with tight translational logic and away from broad indication expansion without it.
BIOTECH/PHARMA NEWS 🧬
🔹 Gilead agreed to acquire Tubulis for $3.15B upfront plus up to $1.85B in milestones, adding clinical stage and preclinical antibody drug conjugate programs and expanding Gilead’s internal payload and linker capabilities. The transaction values Tubulis at up to $5B and is expected to close in Q2. This is another signal that large cap oncology buyers are paying for technical depth in chemistry and design, not just target novelty. Gilead has now committed about $11B across three deals this year, which makes the company’s diversification push harder to dismiss as incremental portfolio maintenance.
🔹 The CDC’s acting director Jay Bhattacharya has delayed publication of a CDC report showing that updated COVID vaccines cut the risk of emergency department visits by about 50% and hospitalizations by roughly 55% in healthy adults last winter. The study, based on data from September through December and originally scheduled for publication on March 19 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, used a methodology called test-negative design, a well-established approach the agency has relied on for years to evaluate respiratory virus vaccines. Bhattacharya has raised concerns about that methodology, and HHS framed the delay as routine leadership review. Former CDC official Dan Jernigan pushed back, arguing the findings simply don’t align with the direction RFK Jr. has taken on vaccines, noting that suppressing evidence of vaccine effectiveness while simultaneously rolling back COVID shot recommendations for children and pregnant women sends a deeply contradictory public health message.
🔹 Merck’s $6.7B acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals got more interesting this week when SEC filings revealed the real negotiation behind the headline number. Four companies were originally bidding, and Merck’s initial offer was $61 per share, about $1B more than the final price. What changed: updated data from the CARDINAL trial showed that TERN-701’s major molecular response rate at 24 weeks came in lower than the 64% figure Terns had presented at a December conference. Merck cut its offer to $50, the competing bidder walked away entirely, and Terns negotiated back up to $53. William Blair, which had previously floated the possibility of a counterbid, now says a competing offer is unlikely and expects the deal to close in early May.
🔹 Lilly formally launched Foundayo (orforglipron) in the U.S. after FDA approval last week, opening prescriptions immediately with shipping starting April 6. Lilly highlighted ATTAIN 1 data showing average weight loss of 12.4% among trial completers at the highest dose, and self pay pricing that starts at $149 per month on the lowest dose. The oral GLP-1 race is now live, not theoretical. Novo Nordisk had a three month head start in oral obesity, and Lilly responded with a convenience argument that Foundayo can be taken without food or water restrictions. This does not automatically dethrone Novo, but it changes the commercial battlefield from pure efficacy comparison to adherence friction, fulfillment speed, and net pricing strategy.
🔹 Roche and C4 Therapeutics expanded their long running targeted protein degradation relationship with a new degrader antibody conjugate collaboration. C4T receives $20M upfront, potential milestone payments exceeding $1B across discovery, regulatory, and commercial events, and tiered royalties if products launch. This is a concrete sign that oncology modality convergence is accelerating. Antibody drug conjugates already validated targeted delivery, and degraders promise catalytic biology beyond occupancy inhibition. The combination can expand target space if safety and therapeutic index hold up in humans. It is still early, still unproven clinically, but strategically this is where next cycle optionality is being built.
CLINICAL TRIAL UPDATES 📊
🔹 Lunsekimig (Sanofi) - Phase 2 across asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, and atopic dermatitis. Sanofi reported a split outcome: positive reads in asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, but failure in atopic dermatitis. Public coverage has not yet provided full endpoint level tables and denominator level detail across all cohorts, so the current read remains directional rather than complete. One clean signal in airway disease does not grant automatic credibility in dermatology. The next key step is whether Sanofi narrows to the strongest biology defined populations or continues broad indication expansion with a higher execution burden.
🔹 Subcutaneous Tepezza (Amgen) - Phase 3 in thyroid eye disease. Amgen said a subcutaneous formulation of Tepezza was comparable to the infused version in a pivotal setting. Full numerical disclosure remains limited in open access summaries, but the route of administration signal is clear. Convenience is now part of competitive defense in thyroid eye disease as oral and subcutaneous challengers, including Viridian Therapeutics, move closer to market. Improved administration logistics can protect incumbent share even before head to head superiority data exist.
🔹 Brinsupri (Insmed) - mid stage hidradenitis suppurativa program discontinued. Insmed stopped Brinsupri in hidradenitis suppurativa after a mid stage miss, adding to a prior discontinuation in sinus inflammation. Serial indication failures force portfolio triage and tighter capital allocation. In this market, investors are not rewarding broad anti inflammatory expansion without strong translational logic and a visible efficacy gradient early in development. Next for Insmed is focus and redeployment into assets with cleaner probability weighted paths.
WATCHLIST 👀
Oral obesity net pricing: whether Lilly and Novo keep matching low entry prices or shift to tighter dose tier economics as payer negotiations deepen.
Gilead post close integration: timeline updates for Tubulis programs and whether management changes development sequencing this quarter.
Merck TERN-701 clinical disclosures: deeper molecular response and safety detail ahead of broader investor scrutiny on best in class claims.
DAC modality validation: first meaningful preclinical to clinical translation markers from Roche and C4T’s degrader antibody conjugate strategy.
Immunology indication narrowing: Sanofi’s development path decision after lunsekimig’s mixed read across three diseases.
Have a great rest of your week and thanks for reading Biotech Blueprint!
DISCLAIMER: This publication is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, medical, or tax advice, a solicitation, or an offer to buy/sell any security. Information is believed reliable but no warranty is made as to accuracy or completeness; views may change without notice. Do your own research and consult qualified professionals.
DISCLOSURE & CONFLICTS: The author may hold positions in securities mentioned and may change positions at any time without notice. No compensation is received from companies mentioned, and there are no known material business relationships unless explicitly stated. Content may reference clinical data and regulatory events; always consult primary sources and a licensed clinician for medical decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
LIABILITY: Use of this content is at your own risk. The author assumes no responsibility for any losses arising from reliance on this material.
Cover image credit: Hannah Beier (Reuters)