Caribou, Forbion, Avidity, Cerevance: Readout Newsletter

Elaine’s stories explore the boom in new obesity treatments, new drug payment models, the ways companies are affected by FDA changes, and the emerging psychedelics drug sector. She co-writes The Readout newsletter, and co-hosts STAT’s weekly biotech podcast, The Readout Loud. You can reach Elaine on Signal at elaineywchen.70.

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Good morning. Today, STAT released our 2026 Wunderkinds, a group of early-career researchers recognized for doing innovative work in health and medicine. I had the pleasure of speaking with one NIH researcher who has been figuring out how GLP-1 drugs work in the brain. But check out all of the profiles here!

The need-to-know this morning

Cerevance said its experimental pill solengepras reduced Parkinson’s patients’ daily off-time, alongside other symptoms, in a Phase 3 trial. The privately held company, which will now talk to regulators about a potential approval, touts the pill as one of the first potential Parkinson’s drugs that does not act directly on dopamine, sparing patients certain side effects.
Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering how to manipulate “mirror image” molecules, paving the way for manufacturing more precise and safer drugs.

Doudna-founded Caribou is shutting down

Caribou Biosciences is shutting down after failing to raise enough money to fund a late-stage clinical trial of its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy for lymphoma.

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