Zai Lab

NEWS & INSIGHTS (incl. Key Themes, Latest Interviews, Recent Reg. Guidance)

• Notable Theme (Commercial): Big pharma M&A activity in July was dominated by Merck & Co's acquisition of Verona Pharma, with its recent commercial hit for COPD, Ohtuvayre. Scrip followed up with analysis of Merck & Co's business development strategy, its renewed interest in respiratory drugs, and more detail on the acquisition itself.
• Notable Theme (Commercial): Several issues around gene therapies have been to the fore, including a maelstrom around Sarepta Therapeutics after patient deaths led to swingeing cuts at the company, questions over its transparency and restrictions on shipments of its DMD gene therapy, which were subsequently partially lifted. On a more positive note for the segment, progress is being made on an outcomes-based contract model to increase Medicaid access to sickle cell disease gene therapies.
• Notable Theme (Regulatory): President Trump renewed his efforts to create international drug pricing benchmarks with letters to 17 pharma companies. Pink Sheet's analysis noted that it remains unclear how committed the administration is to take meaningful steps to force US prices lower if companies don't comply. The current letters may be seen as a sign the White House has not yet developed concrete sticks. Still, the letters caught industry by surprise as many companies had thought they had defused the threat of MFN through negotiations with the White House.

EDITORIAL CONTENTS (incl. Podcasts, Webinars)

• Notable Podcast: Is Biopharma M&A In A Holding Pattern Or A ‘New Normal’
• Notable Webinar: Navigating the Clinical Trial Registry Ecosystem: Regional & Global Registry Selection (August 27, 2025)
• Notable Webinar: AI Won’t Replace You—But Clinical Teams Using It Might (September 24, 2025)

DEALS & FINANCING (incl. M&As, Licensing, Financing)

• Notable M&A: Merck to Buy Verona for $10B
• Notable Licensing: Hengrui Pharma & GSK Enter Agreements to Develop up to 12 Medicines Across Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation and Oncology totalling $12.5B ($500M upfront)
• Notable Financing: Abivax Nets $702M in Public Offering of ADSs; Overallotment Fully Exercised

KEY R&D EVENTS (incl. Top-line Readouts, Analyst Commentary, Approval/CRL)

• Notable Analysis: Celcuity | gedatolisib | HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer (Phase 3): “Gedatolisib combination demonstrates practice changing results in PIK3CA wild-type HR+/HER2- breast cancer patients…”
• Notable Analysis: Eli Lilly | Mounjaro | Type-2 Diabetes (Approved): “Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro succeeds in first-of-a-kind head-to-head CVOT in T2D and ASCVD…”
• Notable Analysis: Neurocrine Biosciences | Ingrezza | Schizophrenia (Phase 3): “Neurocrine shifts focus to NBI-1117568 as Ingrezza's prospects in schizophrenia decline…”

RESEARCH REPORTS (incl. Forecast, Thought Leadership, KOL Interview)

• Notable Report: Q3 2025 Outlook Report
• Notable Report: 2025 Post-ADA Report
• Notable Report: Oncology Forecasting: A Different Kind of Challenge
• Notable Report: Clinical Trial Recruitment: Meeting Patients Where They Are
• Notable Report: Patient-based Forecast - Ovarian Cancer
• Notable Report: Datapack: Recent KOL Insights (Jan 23-Jul 25)
• Notable Report: Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) - KOL Interview – US South | Spain