Welcome back to the workweek. After a hopefully restorative weekend, we’re diving into another round of meetings, deadlines, and virtual calls. To fuel the grind, we’re sipping on ginger honey tea—no prescription required. Now, let’s get to the headlines.
Supreme Court Urged to Restore Mail-Order Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone
Two pharmaceutical companies, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate mail-order access to mifepristone, a critical abortion medication. The move seeks to maintain nationwide availability of the drug amid ongoing legal disputes.
On Saturday, the companies filed applications with the high court just one day after a federal appeals court issued a temporary block on deliveries. This ruling significantly restricted access to mifepristone, particularly in states where abortion is banned. While the lower court’s decision is temporary, it marks the first major curtailment of mifepristone access in a series of lawsuits challenging its 2000 approval and subsequent regulatory changes that expanded access.
UCB Acquires Candid Therapeutics in $2.2 Billion Deal to Expand Autoimmune Therapies
UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, has completed its second acquisition of 2024 by purchasing Candid Therapeutics for up to $2.2 billion. The deal includes an upfront payment of $2 billion with an additional $200 million in potential milestone payments.
The acquisition strengthens UCB’s pipeline in autoimmune disease treatments, adding four T-cell engager candidates—two of which are in early-stage clinical trials. For Candid Therapeutics, this move supersedes a previously announced reverse merger with Rallybio, which would have provided a Nasdaq listing and $505 million in financing. That agreement, announced in early March, has now been abandoned in favor of the UCB deal.
Stay tuned for further updates as these stories develop.
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