The Inside Circle

THE INSIDE CIRCLE

from Philly Biotech Circle

MONTHLY RECAP · SEPTEMBER 2026

STATE OF THE MARKET Editor's Commentary

September was a reality check after a strong run: the XBI biotech index fell about 3.5% while the S&P 500 was roughly flat, coming after the Fed raised rates to 3.75–4.00% on September 16. Even so, the index was still up roughly 27% for the year as of late September, about 70 biotech acquisitions worth roughly $199 billion have been announced so far in 2026, and 23 biotech IPOs have raised about $7.3 billion. Investors are still rewarding companies that deliver, as Iovance's roughly 35% jump on raised Amtagvi guidance showed. Closer to home, Greater Philadelphia drew steady gift and grant funding from Penn Medicine donors, Wistar's NIH awards and Penn's new StartUP Fund, and it added new manufacturing space. Alveus's move to Boston, however, is a reminder that well-funded companies can still leave the region. With more than 40 company-specific catalysts ahead before year-end, the next Fed meeting may move biotech stocks as much as any trial result.

CLINICAL & COMMERCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Iovance Biotherapeutics' Amtagvi demand drives 2026 revenue guidance bump; stock soars

Iovance raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $410–420 million, up $55 million, on strong demand for its TIL cell therapy Amtagvi. Shares jumped nearly 35% to $14.79 on the news.

Benzinga · Read more →

Persevere Therapeutics treats first patient in its MIROC-1 Phase 2a trial of misetionamide in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer

The MIROC-1 trial is testing misetionamide in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and will enroll 18 patients at four U.S. academic cancer centers. It marks Persevere's move into Phase 2 development.

GlobeNewswire · Read more → | Persevere press release →

Imvax announces additional data from Phase 2b trial of IGV-001 in newly diagnosed GBM and updates planned clinical development

In 48 patients with unmethylated MGMT glioblastoma, IGV-001 extended median overall survival to 14.8 months vs. 10.6 months on placebo. Imvax is now preparing to advance the immunotherapy into Phase 3.

Business Wire · Read more →

Context Therapeutics announces first patient dosed in Phase 1 trial of CT-202

CT-202 is a Nectin-4 x CD3 bispecific antibody being tested as a monotherapy in urothelial, colorectal and triple-negative breast cancers. Initial Phase 1a data are expected in the second half of 2027.

GlobeNewswire · Read more →

Ocugen doses first patient in Phase 3 registrational trial of OCU410 modifier gene therapy for geographic atrophy secondary to dry AMD

The Phase 3 ArMaDa3 trial is evaluating OCU410 for geographic atrophy in dry AMD. The therapy holds FDA RMAT designation, and Ocugen anticipates a BLA filing in 2028.

GlobeNewswire · Read more →

Penn Medicine launches the first human clinical trial to test a precision form of FLASH proton therapy

Conformal FLASH delivers a cancer-killing radiation dose in under a second. The Phase 1 study will enroll 10 patients with recurrent head and neck cancer, with treatment cut to five sessions over 10 days instead of five to six weeks.

Penn Today · Read more →

COLLABORATIONS, LICENSING & M&A

Tolerance continues thymus-focused deals with $560M pact for Tanabe's clinical-stage IL-33 drug

Philadelphia-based Tolerance Bio licensed the anti-IL-33 antibody TLB-33 from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for up to $560 million in milestones. It plans Phase 2 studies aimed at preserving thymic function and immune resilience.

Fierce Biotech · Read more →

Annovis partners with AI regulatory platform Weave Bio to prepare NDA for buntanetap in Alzheimer's disease

Weave Bio's AI platform will help Annovis prepare its NDA for buntanetap. The pivotal Phase 3 trial enrolled 862 patients, exceeding its 760-patient target, with top-line data expected in March 2027.

GlobeNewswire · Read more →

Aclipse Therapeutics and Cypress BioPharma agree to launch Phase 2 study in childhood nephrotic syndrome and expand renal development capabilities

Aclipse will acquire Cypress BioPharma to take M107 (lobeglitazone), a PPARγ activator, into a Phase 2 trial in childhood nephrotic syndrome. A parallel gastroparesis study continues, supported by a Series B raise.

Business Wire · Read more →

Exegenesis Bio and Modalis collaborate to advance MDL-201 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

The partnership pairs Exegenesis's muscle-targeted EMC181 AAV capsid with Modalis's CRISPR-GNDM® epigenome editing. The goal is a mutation-agnostic treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Business Wire · Read more →

FINANCING

Senticell® closes oversubscribed seed round to advance its RBC-based liquid biopsy platform

Senticell raised nearly $7 million to advance its red blood cell–based liquid biopsy platform for cancer detection. The round was led by The Venture City, Capital Factory, Scalpel Ventures and Evoce Capital.

PR Newswire · Read more →

Senticell awarded NCI STTR grant to advance RBC-based liquid biopsy for early-stage lung cancer

Senticell also won a Phase I STTR grant, with the University of Pennsylvania as a sub-awardee, to validate red blood cell–bound tumor DNA as an early marker for non-small cell lung cancer. The work includes mouse studies and a clinical evaluation in 100 patients with early-stage disease.

PR Newswire · Read more →

MTTI awarded $3.17M NCI grant to advance ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBRGD for non-small cell lung cancer

The five-year NCI grant will support development of MTTI's radiopharmaceutical ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBRGD, which targets integrin αvβ3 in non-small cell lung cancer.

Business Wire · Read more →

Penn's StartUP Fund, a newly launched $10M fund for early-stage Penn spinouts, announces its first investments

Penn's new $10 million fund made its first bets on three faculty-founded companies: Vasowatch (maternal health monitoring), OneFiltr (radio-frequency filtering) and Peptaris (AI-driven drug discovery).

Penn Today · Read more →

Wistar Institute wins $15M+ NIH investment to advance HIV cure research strategies

Led by Dr. Luis J. Montaner, the awards fund the BEAT-HIV Collaboratory and an R01 grant. The work targets viral reservoirs and immunotherapy approaches aimed at durable, drug-free HIV remission.

Wistar Institute · Read more →

NRx Defense Systems, an NRx Pharmaceuticals company, awarded $11M DARPA prime contract to test robotic magnetic stimulation with NRX-101 in treatment-resistant depression

The $11.2 million contract funds the SPARC-TMS trial, which will test a single-day course of robotic, neuronavigated TMS combined with NRX-101. The trial will run at McLean Hospital, Arizona State University, HOPE Therapeutics and affiliated military hospitals.

NRx Pharmaceuticals · Read more →

MANUFACTURING

Made Scientific expands U.S. GMP cell therapy network with 85,000 sq. ft. Pennsylvania acquisition, operational on day one

Made Scientific acquired the East Norriton facility from National Resilience, closing September 18. The site has eight Grade B/C cleanrooms, QC labs and 30,000 sq. ft. of expansion space for autologous and allogeneic therapies.

Made Scientific · Read more →

SK pharmteco and GEMMABio expand rare disease manufacturing collaboration following SMA clinical trial milestone

SK pharmteco is manufacturing clinical material for Gemma Biotherapeutics' Phase 1/2 CHARISMA trial, which recently dosed its first patient. The trial is testing GB221, a next-generation gene therapy for SMA Type 1.

GlobeNewswire · Read more →

Homeopathic medicine maker Boiron expands in Newtown Square with new warehouse

Boiron, the world's largest homeopathic medicine maker, opened a 78,898 sq. ft. temperature-controlled logistics center. It consolidates U.S. distribution under one roof and employs 28 people.

Delco Today · Read more →

SK pharmteco announces $200M-plus U.S. investment to expand small molecule and peptide capacity

The five-year plan centers on SK pharmteco's Rancho Cordova, California site, adding development labs, new API manufacturing suites and GMP kilo-scale peptide capacity due online in late 2026. The investment is expected to create about 100 high-skilled U.S. jobs.

SK pharmteco · Read more →

Minaris evolves business model with new Philadelphia-based Viral Vectors business unit

The cell and gene therapy CDMO reorganized into three units on October 1: Cell Therapies, Viral Vectors and Advanced Testing. The new Viral Vectors unit is led by Dr. Eytan Abraham and headquartered in Philadelphia, with a UK site built on the OXGENE technology Minaris acquired.

PR Newswire · Read more →

AROUND THE REGION

Alveus Therapeutics moves U.S. operations from Philadelphia to Boston after $197M funding round

Alveus, an obesity and metabolic disease biotech that moved its HQ to Philadelphia earlier this year after a $197M Series A, is shifting U.S. operations to Boston. It recently opened a Boston office and added a new CTO and Chief Development Officer.

Boston Business Journal · Read more →

Philadelphia businessman gives Penn Medicine $50M to speed lab-to-patient research

Freedom Mortgage founder and Phillies part-owner Stanley C. Middleman's gift creates the Middleman Fund. The endowment will support early-stage cancer, autoimmune and infectious disease research on its path to patients.

Philadelphia Today · Read more →

CHOP's new $480M Morgan Center built to 'remove barriers' to discovery

The 17-story, 350,000 sq. ft. Morgan Center, named for a $50 million gift from the Morgan family, adds flexible wet labs and collaboration space. It will house hundreds of researchers to speed pediatric discovery.

Philadelphia Business Journal · Read more →

Madrigal unveils new HQ with sales of flagship drug on pace to top $1B this year

Madrigal moved into a larger headquarters in West Conshohocken, leasing about 55,000 sq. ft. Sales of Rezdiffra, its MASH treatment, are on pace to top $1 billion this year.

Philadelphia Business Journal · Read more →

Glanua opens U.S. headquarters in Radnor, eyes 200 Main Line jobs

Glanua, an Irish water infrastructure company based in Galway, opened its first U.S. headquarters in Radnor. It plans to grow to about 200 engineering and administrative jobs.

Delco Today · Read more →

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Persevere Therapeutics appoints Jim Barlow to its Board of Directors

Barlow is President and CEO of ImmunoGenesis and has more than 25 years in oncology-focused biopharma. He brings experience in clinical development, capital raising and commercialization.

Persevere Therapeutics · Read more →

Legend Biotech names Ingrid Zhang Chief Executive Officer following a Board-led search

Zhang joins from Novartis, with prior roles at AstraZeneca and Pfizer, and became CEO on September 15, succeeding interim leader Alan Bash. She now leads the company behind CARVYKTI for multiple myeloma.

Legend Biotech · Read more →

Science Center names Charlene Caposecco senior director of STEM education initiatives for FirstHand

Caposecco, previously director of experiential learning at Young Scholars Charter School, joined in August to lead FirstHand, the Science Center's decade-old youth STEM program. She aims to give more Philadelphia students access to working labs and industry professionals.

Technical.ly · Read more →

Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center and Blumberg Institute name Nick Spring VP for Strategy and Commercial Development

Spring, PABC's Entrepreneur in Residence since 2024, steps into the newly created role. He previously founded Topaz Pharmaceuticals, which he sold to Sanofi, led Reliefband as CEO and held executive roles at Merck.

Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center · Read more →

OCTOBER EVENTS