Up next

Global Briefs: Shionogi & Gilead Sciences 

A roundup of news from the large and mid-sized bio/pharmaceutical companies featuring Shionogi and Gilead Sciences. Highlights below.  

For the latest news roundup on small and Emerging Pharma companies, see Biotech Briefs. 

M&A News 
* Shionogi To Fully Acquire JV From Partner Apnimed for $100 M 
Partnering News 
* Gilead Exercises $45-M Option for Kymera’s Oncology Molecular Glue Degrader Drug Candidate
General 
* Shionogi Awarded $482-M US Gov’t Contract To Address Antimicrobial Resistance Preparedness 

Shionogi To Fully Acquire JV From Partner Apnimed for $100 M 
Shionogi & Co. has announced that it will fully acquire Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science (SASS), a joint venutre between Shionogi and Apnimed, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company developing oral therapeutics targeting sleep-related breathing diseases, from Apnimed for $100 million. 

SASS was established in 2023 as a joint venture between Shionogi and Apnimed to provide solutions that address sleep disorders, with each company holding a 50% equity interest. Under the agreement, Shionogi expects to acquire all of Apnimed’s equity interest in SASS at closing, resulting in SASS becoming a wholly owned consolidated subsidiary of Shionogi. 

Under the agreement, Shionogi will pay Apnimed an upfront cash payment of $100 million upon completion of the transaction. In addition, Shionogi will make a development milestone payment related to SASS‑002 (sulthiame), an investigational oral, once-daily carbonic anhydrase inhibitor being developed as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, as well as tiered royalties based on future sales of products derived from intellectual property contributed by Apnimed to the joint venture. 

Source: Shionogi 

Partnering News 

Gilead Exercises $45-M Option for Kymera’s Oncology Molecular Glue Degrader Drug Candidate 
Gilead Sciences and Kymera Therapeutics, a Watertown, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company, have announced that Gilead Sciences has exercised a $45-million option to exclusively license KT-200, an oral CDK2 molecular glue degrader drug oncology drug candidate discovered and characterized by Kymera. Gilead will progress the program into investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies to support an IND filing in 2027. 

CDK2-directed molecular glue degraders represent a novel therapeutic approach designed to selectively remove CDK2, a key driver of tumor growth, rather than just inhibiting its function whilst sparing other CDK family proteins. Molecular glue degrader degraders have the potential to provide more precise, safe, effective, oral treatments for cancers that rely on CDK2 activity, with the potential to improve outcomes for patients, including those with advanced breast cancer where treatment options remain limited, according to information from Kymera.  

under the agreement, Kymera is eligible to receive up to $750 million in total payments. To date (as reported on April 9, 2026), Kymera has realized $85 million in upfront and option exercise payments. In addition, Kymera may also receive tiered royalties ranging from high single-BP to mid-teens on net product sales under the collaboration. Gilead has global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize all products resulting from the collaboration. 

Source: Kymera Therapeutics 

General 

Shionogi Awarded $482-M US Gov’t Contract To Address Antimicrobial Resistance Preparedness 
Shionogi announced that it has been awarded a contract by the US government through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) Project BioShield related to Fetroja (cefiderocol) as a countermeasure against difficult-to-treat Gram-negative bacterial infections and pathogens that present a high-priority biothreat. The contract is initially funded at $119 million with multiyear options for a total of up to $482 million. 

BARDA’s Project BioShield accelerates the research, development, procurement and availability of effective medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents. BARDA is part of Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under the US Department of Health and Human Services. In the US, Fetroja is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP), ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), and complicated urinary tract infections caused by certain susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms. 

The contract will fund Shiono to: 

  • Establish a US drug product manufacturing site for Fetroja; 
  • Support procurement of Fetroja; 
  • Advance Fetroja for the treatment of infections caused by high priority biothreat pathogens, including Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis) and Yersinia pestis (plague); and 
  • Expand the utility of Fetroja for HABP/VABP in pediatric patients with a FDA supplemental new drug application.  

Source: Shionogi