Takeda Pharmaceutical has ended its neurodegenerative disease collaboration with Denali Therapeutics. Merck & Company and Zhifei have eliminated minimum purchase requirements in vaccine distribution agreements. Shionogi & Co. has secured funding from the US government to increase the domestic supply of antibiotics. moreover.
1. Takeda terminates partnership with Denali, returns dementia assets during restructuring
Takeda has returned its dementia candidate, coded DNL593, to Denali Therapeutics, effectively ending a collaboration that began in 2018 to jointly develop up to three new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. According to a filing with Denali Securities, Takeda is in turnaround mode and made this decision out of strategic considerations unrelated to efficacy or safety.
2. Merck and Zhifei adjust partnership due to lack of demand for Gardasil in China
Merck & Company has agreed to remove minimum purchase requirements from Chinese vaccine partner Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products and use a rolling supply model based on demand. The adjustment was made after demand for Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil plummeted. Zhifei’s procurement amount for the three Merck vaccine brands decreased from 34.8 billion yuan in 2023 to less than 2.2 billion yuan in 2025.
3. Shionogi receives initial $119 million from BARDA to establish U.S. antibiotic factory
Shionogi & Co., Ltd. announced an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to enhance production of its antibiotic Fetroya (cefiderocol) in the United States. HHS officials initially plan to award $119 million to the Japanese drugmaker, with additional “multi-year options” worth up to $482 million if exercised.
4. Astellas discovers Dyno myopathy AAV capsid with $15 million option deal
Astellas Pharma is exercising an option to license Dyno Therapeutics adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids designed for delivery to skeletal muscle. The Japanese drugmaker will pay $15 million, along with potential milestone and royalty payments, and will be responsible for all development activities for the delivery vehicle-based gene therapy candidate.
Other notable news:
5. Akali partners with WuXi XDC to develop and manufacture new ADC therapeutics
6. Daiichi Sankyo partners with Chinese R&D platform Atlatl (release)
7. DualityBio’s BioNTech-affiliated ADC accepted for review in China (release)
8. Gan and Lee, JW Pharma collaborate on biweekly GLP-1 in Korea (release)
