Alaunos Therapeutics completed its acquisition of Velaris Therapeutics on October 13, 2026, adding investigational biologics for pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, and related cardiopulmonary diseases. The assets include ActRII-Fc ligand traps designed to address signaling imbalances linked to pulmonary vascular remodeling. Alaunos described Velaris as a private biotechnology company developing therapies for PAH and related cardiopulmonary conditions in its acquisition announcement.
The deal adds a new development direction to Alaunos’ pipeline. Velaris holders received Alaunos shares, along with newly issued Series B and Series C preferred shares. A company filing records the issuance of 105,286 Series B shares and 33,054 Series C shares.
Alaunos separately arranged a private placement expected to raise approximately $350 million before expenses. It includes 687,789 common shares priced at $1.4357 each and 243,063 Series C shares priced at $1,435.70 each. Alaunos’ board approved the acquisition. Velaris’ board and shareholders also approved it; a separate Alaunos shareholder vote was not required to close the deal.
The announcement disclosed no clinical-stage candidates or clinical results. Alaunos identified integration and the advancement of specific candidates as next development steps.
The completed purchase differs from a proposed biotech listing transaction described in an earlier biotech deal. Alaunos says its purchase of Velaris is complete; the other transaction remained proposed.
AI deployment and cancer evidence
IGC Pharma introduced PRISM, an application layer for its patent-pending MINT-AD Alzheimer’s AI platform. MINT-AD stands for Multimodal Interpretable Transformer for Alzheimer’s. It is designed to analyze medical and demographic information, as well as behavioral and cognitive data. PRISM is intended to turn AI-generated risk insights into structured workflows for early risk stratification and cognitive-health tracking. The company also points to clinical-trial optimization and personalized brain-health programs, according to the PRISM announcement.
IGC is evaluating B2B and B2B2C commercial models. It is also considering online models for providers and memory clinics. Pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations are among the other potential users; consumer brain-health platforms are another. The company describes possible uses in risk assessment and research workflows. PRISM and MINT-AD remain development technologies, not regulator-authorized diagnostic products.
PDS Biotechnology reported two research milestones. An upcoming virtual expert event featuring Jonathan M. Hernandez, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute, will discuss Phase 2 outcomes for investigational PDS0301 in advanced liver-associated cancers, with a focus on metastatic colorectal cancer.
The target population consists of patients with previously treated, unresectable microsatellite-stable or mismatch repair-proficient colorectal liver metastases. Immunotherapy has generally shown limited effectiveness in this setting. PDS0301 is an IL-12 immunocytokine designed to deliver immune stimulation within tumors.
Separately, PDS said results from its VERSATILE-002 Phase 2 study appeared in the September 17, 2026 issue of JAMA Oncology. The study tested PDS0101 plus pembrolizumab in HPV16-positive recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer. The source announcement provides no numerical trial outcomes.
Manufacturing and toxicology tests
A subsidiary of Pinnacle Food Group completed its first bench-scale fermentation of a yeast strain designed to produce recombinant human lactoferrin, or rhLF. The 5-liter experiment used methanol-free Pichia technology developed through a research collaboration with Bioboost Synbio Consulting. Laboratory testing supported confirmation of target-protein expression.
Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein used in nutrition products and supplements. The bench result does not demonstrate commercial manufacturing capacity. Yield and purification remain development questions, along with biological characterization, production economics and regulatory requirements.
VivoSim Labs is positioning its NAMkind Trademark 3D human tissue models alongside its VitroSense Trademark AI predictive toxicology platform for drug-development applications. The FDA has expanded its interest in New Approach Methodologies that could reduce reliance on animal testing. VivoSim reported 91% predictive accuracy for its NAMkind Trademark Liver model across a 92-compound dataset. The company reported 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity for the model.
VitroSense separately reported up to 96% accuracy in predicting potential drug-induced diarrhea. Those figures describe company-reported results; the announcement does not establish FDA qualification or pharmaceutical adoption.
VivoSim is also developing a rat liver model to assess whether animal toxicity findings may translate to humans. The company has not announced FDA qualification of NAMkind Trademark. Model validation remains a milestone, as does pharmaceutical adoption. Potential use in regulatory submissions also remains a milestone.
