Biotech M&A Activity - Merck announced the acquisition of Cidara Therapeutics for approximately $9.2 billion, primarily for its antiviral drug aimed at preventing flu infections in high-risk patients, currently in late-stage clinical trials [1] - This acquisition follows Merck's earlier $10 billion deal to acquire Verona Pharma for respiratory drugs, indicating a trend of significant investments in biotech [1] - The dollar volume of M&A in the biotech sector reached $129 billion through October 31, 2025, a 43% increase compared to all of 2024, despite a 26% decrease in the number of deals, highlighting a shift towards larger, market-ready assets [3] Recursion's Challenges - Recursion has not successfully brought any drugs to market since its founding, with its shares dropping 86% since its IPO in April 2021, resulting in a current market cap of $2.2 billion [4] - The company reported a revenue decline of one-third to $44 million from $65 million over the last 12 months, while losses surged nearly 90% to $716 million [4] - Incoming CEO Najat Khan aims to tackle the challenges of AI in drug development, acknowledging the high failure rate in the industry [5] Infant Formula Outbreak - A botulism outbreak linked to ByHeart's organic infant formula affected 23 babies across 13 states, leading to multiple hospitalizations and five lawsuits from parents [6] - ByHeart had previously shut down its Pennsylvania manufacturing plant due to safety violations and announced a nationwide recall of its infant formula [7] Profluent's AI Innovations - Profluent, a startup focused on using AI for protein design, raised $106 million in new venture funding, bringing its total investment to $150 million and approaching a valuation of $1 billion [12] - The company aims to revolutionize drug development and agriculture by making biology programmable, which could lead to significant breakthroughs in therapeutics and diagnostics [11]

A new malaria drug cured 99% of cases in a late-stage study, a big step toward becoming the first new treatment of the disease in 25 years https://t.co/mNVJRnpPdQ ...

Novartis’ experimental malaria drug worked better than existing treatments and showed promise against drug-resistant strains in a study, a potential advance in the fight against the illness https://t.co/HhM8NHYvqy ...