May 12 Quick Takes: Skyhawk, Merck expand deal; plus Sanofi’s Sarclisa and clinical updates drive gains for Gamida, CymaBay

Autoimmune, metabolic diseases added to Skyhawk-Merck deal
Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc. expanded a collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to discover and develop small molecules that modulate RNA splicing for autoimmune and metabolic diseases; the deal already includes neurodegeneration and cancer. The biotech is eligible to receive $600 million per program target from Merck, plus royalties.

Sarclisa meets in MM Phase III
Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NASDAQ:SNY) said anti-CD38 mAb Sarclisa isatuximab-irfc plus standard of care carfilzomib and dexamethasone met the primary endpoint of increasing progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma vs. SOC alone in the Phase III IKEMA trial. Sanofi reported the results of the planned interim analysis early based on an IDMC recommendation...