More big biotech deals on the docket this week. First, Merck KGaA is buying Bio-Techne for $11.3 billion to expand its presence in high-growth life science markets. We dive into the details of this deal and then turn our attention to a $2.5 million collaboration to use artificial intelligence to find drug candidates for neuroimmune disorders. That deal involves Insilico Medicine and SK Biopharmaceuticals. Still on the theme of AI, we discuss Anthropic’s Claude Science, the latest entrant to the growing ecosystem of tech platforms specialized for biology, and a set of models for antibiotic design and vaccine target prediction. Lastly, we dig into two recent publications that discuss vaccines for Nipah virus and one of its relatives, and for treating schistosomiasis.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

Merck KGaA to Acquire Bio-Techne for $11.3B, Expanding Life Science Tools Presence

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 25, 2026

Insilico, SK Launch Up-to-$2.5B Neuroimmune AI Drug Collaboration

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 28, 2026

Claude Science Is Here, Antibiotics Designed by Text Prompt Among Applications

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, June 30, 2026

Schistosomiasis Vaccine Shows Strong Immune Memory in Early Clinical Trials

GEN, June 29, 2026

Nipah and Hendra Viruses: Antibody Cocktail Provides Complete Protection in Hamster Model

GEN, June 26, 2026

Touching Base Podcast

Hosted by Corinna Singleman, PhD

Behind the Breakthroughs

Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are still talking about big pharma deals and biotech fundraising in this episode. The big news this week was Parabilis Medicines’s history-making IPO. We dive into the drug developer’s plans for the eye-popping $770.5 million that it raised. Next, we discuss the details of a collaboration between Merck and Protillion Biosciences to use artificial intelligence to discover multiple therapeutic candidates. Turning to some newly published research, we discuss the early results of a first-in-human clinical trial that is testing a dual vaccine against Lassa fever and rabies, a CRISPR system engineered to selectively trigger cancer cell death by chromatin shredding, and a novel mRNA delivery platform for delivering gene therapies starting with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Uduak Thomas, and Fay Lin, PhD, for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

StockWatch: Parabilis Medicines Makes Wall Street History with $770.5M IPO

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 14, 2026

Merck, Protillion Launch AI Drug Discovery Collaboration with Up-to-$510M in Milestone Payments

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 16, 2026

First-in-Human Trial Reports Promising Dual Lassa–Rabies Vaccine Data

GEN, June 9, 2026

CRISPR Shreds Undruggable Cancer Cells with Precision

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, June 8, 2026

New mRNA Delivery Platform Restores Muscle Function in DMD Models

GEN, June 11, 2026

Touching Base Podcast

Hosted by Corinna Singleman, PhD

Behind the Breakthroughs

Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, we start with news that Fulcrum Therapeutics is scrapping its lead pipeline program for sickle cell disease following concerns from the FDA about the drug’s risks and benefits. Also on the docket, news of Eli Lilly’s latest spending. The pharma giant has added its genetic medicines pipeline and capabilities by signing a $1.9 billion agreement with Ascidian Therapeutics to develop RNA exon editors for treating inherited kidney diseases. Next up, updates to an open-source model for binder design and protein function mapping. Finally, on the peer-review front, we dive into some of the latest vaccine research including insights into the mechanisms that cross-reactive T cells use to target multiple viral species in a single family and an improvement to standard polio vaccines.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

Fulcrum Halts Development of SCD Candidate Pociredir, Sets Strategic Review

By Alex Philippidis and Kevin Davies, PhD, GEN Edge, June 2, 2026

Lilly, Ascidian Launch Up-to-$1.9B RNA Exon Editor Collaboration Targeting Inherited Kidney Diseases

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 3, 2026

Biohub Releases Protein Biology World Model to Address Disease

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, May 27, 2026

Cross-Reactive T Cells Could Point to Broad Vaccines or Treatments for Measles, Nipah Virus

GEN, June 2, 2026

Experimental Adjuvant Could Strengthen Mucosal Immunity with Injectable Polio Vaccines

GEN, June 4, 2026

Touching Base Podcast

Hosted by Corinna Singleman, PhD

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.