Category: Healthcare

Neurocrine to Acquire Soleno Therapeutics, Expanding Rare Disease and Endocrinology Portfolio

Posted on by cpatches

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Soleno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLNO) for $53.00 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of approximately $2.9 billion. The offer reflects a premium of roughly 34% to Soleno’s April 2 closing price and 51% to its 30-day volume-weighted average price.

The acquisition adds VYKAT™ XR (diazoxide choline), the first and only FDA-approved treatment for hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), to Neurocrine’s growing portfolio of first-in-class therapies. The transaction is expected to close within 90 days, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

Expanding a High-Growth Portfolio

With the addition of VYKAT XR, Neurocrine will have three marketed, first-in-class therapies:

  • INGREZZA® (valbenazine) – a VMAT2 inhibitor for tardive dyskinesia and Huntington’s chorea, generating $2.51 billion in 2025 revenue
  • CRENESSITY® (crinecerfont) – approved in late 2024 for congenital adrenal hyperplasia, with $301 million in 2025 revenue
  • VYKAT XR – approved in March 2025 for PWS, delivering $190 million in 2025 revenue

Together, these therapies position Neurocrine for sustained revenue growth and portfolio diversification through the end of the decade.

A Transformative Therapy in a High-Unmet-Need Market

VYKAT XR addresses hyperphagia, the defining and life-threatening symptom of Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting approximately 10,000 patients in the U.S. The condition leads to persistent hunger, compulsive food-seeking behavior, and significant metabolic and behavioral challenges.

Since its U.S. launch in the second quarter of 2025, VYKAT XR has seen strong early adoption, including $92 million in fourth-quarter revenue alone. The therapy is expected to generate approximately $450 million in revenue this year and is supported by intellectual property protection extending into the mid-2040s.

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“This transaction will advance Neurocrine’s mission to deliver life-changing treatments while accelerating our revenue growth and portfolio diversification strategy,” said Kyle W. Gano, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Neurocrine. “We look forward to expanding VYKAT XR’s reach and strengthening our leadership in delivering transformative medicines.”

Strategic Entry Into Metabolic Disease

The acquisition also marks Neurocrine’s entry into metabolic disorders, complementing its existing endocrinology focus. This comes as the broader market sees heightened competition following the success of GLP-1 drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.

Neurocrine believes its expertise in CRF1 receptor antagonists and endocrine pathways may offer differentiated approaches, particularly in addressing concerns around muscle loss associated with current obesity treatments.

Analysts suggest the deal provides a more immediate and practical pathway into metabolic disease compared to earlier-stage internal programs, which still face regulatory and competitive hurdles.

Financial and Transaction Details

Under the agreement, Neurocrine will launch a tender offer to acquire all outstanding Soleno shares. Following completion, a subsidiary will merge with Soleno, converting remaining shares into the same $53.00 per share cash consideration.

The transaction will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and a modest amount of pre-payable debt. Notably, the deal is not subject to financing conditions.

Both companies’ boards have approved the transaction.

Market Reaction

Shares of Soleno surged approximately 34.5% in premarket trading following the announcement, reflecting investor confidence in the deal’s premium and strategic rationale.

Outlook

The acquisition is expected to:

  • Strengthen Neurocrine’s leadership in rare disease and endocrinology
  • Expand its commercial footprint with a durable, first-in-class therapy
  • Enhance long-term revenue visibility and growth profile
  • Deliver operational synergies through integration

With VYKAT XR as a foundational asset and continued pipeline progress, Neurocrine is positioning itself for sustained value creation in both rare disease and metabolic markets.

GoHealth (GOCO) – Reset Deepens, Long-Term Thesis Intact

Posted on by [email protected]


Thursday, April 02, 2026

Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Equity Research Analyst, Digital, Media & Technology , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Jacob Mutchler, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Results weaker than expected. Full year 2025 revenue of $361.9 million was well below our $434.2 million estimate. Management emphasized that the Medicare Advantage market remains in a structural reset heading into 2026, with carriers prioritizing retention, member quality, margin integrity, and disciplined unit economics over enrollment growth. Full year 2025 adj. EBITDA loss estimate of $35.1 million was more than our loss estimate of $29.6 million. 

Strategic reset. The company has deliberately reduced Medicare Advantage enrollments where first-renewal economics were unattractive, prioritizing long-term profitability and appropriate consumer plan fit. Importantly, the company managed cash flow despite the significant revenue drop, a testament to its structural cost restructuring. 


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The Pharma Tariff Playbook: How Drug Companies Can Navigate the Administration’s Latest Pricing Push

Posted on by [email protected]

The Trump administration is preparing to impose tariffs of up to 100% on branded pharmaceutical drugs — but the details buried beneath that headline number tell a more nuanced story, one that comes with multiple off-ramps for companies willing to engage. According to a draft document obtained by CNBC, the proposal is not final, and the framework is structured less as a blanket penalty and more as a tiered system designed to reward companies that move quickly and strategically.

Understanding the structure matters more than reacting to the headline.

How the Framework Actually Works

Under the draft proposal, patented medications and their active pharmaceutical ingredients would face a 100% tariff — but that rate applies specifically to companies that have neither struck deals with the administration nor committed to onshoring US manufacturing. Companies that are actively moving production to the United States would face a significantly lower 20% rate, with a four-year runway before that escalates. Companies that have already executed pricing deals with the Department of Health and Human Services — or are currently in active negotiations — are exempt from additional tariffs entirely. Generic drugs face zero new tariffs under the proposal. Separate negotiated rates also exist for the EU, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the UK through bilateral arrangements.

The architecture of this plan is deliberate. The 100% figure is the ceiling for the least cooperative scenario, not the baseline.

The Early Movers Are Already Protected

Since November, more than a dozen major drugmakers — including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk — have signed agreements with the Trump administration under the “most favored nation” pricing policy, which ties US drug prices to lower international rates. Those deals came with a three-year tariff exemption, meaning the companies that read the room early are sitting out this round entirely. Lilly in particular has had an extraordinarily active week — closing a $6.3 billion acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals and receiving FDA approval for its oral GLP-1 drug Foundayo — operating from a position of policy stability that its peers without deals don’t currently enjoy.

The Roadmap for Smaller Companies

For small and microcap biopharma companies, the key takeaway is that the exemption pathways are real and accessible. The administration has structured this to incentivize negotiation, not to punish innovation. Companies currently in active HHS discussions face no additional tariffs — which means initiating that conversation sooner rather than later is the most direct hedge available.

The generic drug exemption also provides meaningful relief for a significant portion of the smaller specialty pharma universe. And for companies earlier in their development cycle — clinical-stage biotechs without commercial products yet — the immediate operational impact is limited while the policy landscape continues to develop.

The onshoring incentive embedded in the framework also opens a longer-term strategic conversation. Federal policy is clearly moving toward rewarding domestic manufacturing investment, and companies that begin building that into their operational planning now will be better positioned competitively as the rules solidify.

The Bigger Picture

This proposal is part of a broader administration push to restructure how drugs are priced and where they are made in the United States. The direction of travel is clear even if the final details are not. For biopharma companies of every size, the companies that treat this as a strategic planning exercise rather than a political headline will be the ones best positioned when the policy finalizes.

The playbook exists. The question is who runs it first.

Korsana Biosciences Emerges from Cyclerion Merger with $380 Million and a Next-Generation Shot at Alzheimer’s

Posted on by [email protected]

A small-cap reverse merger is giving birth to one of the better-funded Alzheimer’s plays to hit the public markets in recent memory. Cyclerion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CYCN) and privately-held Korsana Biosciences announced a definitive all-stock merger agreement that will effectively hand the Nasdaq listing to Korsana, with the combined company rebranding as Korsana Biosciences and trading under the new ticker “KRSA.”

The deal comes packaged with serious capital behind it. Concurrent with the merger, Korsana secured approximately $380 million in a heavily oversubscribed private financing round led by Fairmount and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from a deep bench of institutional names including General Atlantic, Wellington Management, RA Capital Management, RTW Investments, and J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, among others. That kind of syndicate doesn’t assemble around a science project — it assembles around conviction.

The combined company’s cash position at closing is expected to fund operations into 2029, providing runway through multiple critical clinical milestones.

The Science Behind the Capital

Korsana’s lead program, KRSA-028, is a next-generation shuttled monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid beta for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease — the same mechanism that underpins approved therapies like lecanemab and donanemab, but engineered to address their most significant limitations.

The differentiation lies in Korsana’s proprietary Therapeutic Targeting platform, known as THETA™. The platform incorporates clinically validated transferrin receptor (TfR1) and Fc engineering designed to dramatically improve brain delivery — getting more drug where it needs to go. KRSA-028 was specifically designed to increase amyloid plaque clearance while reducing the rate of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), a safety concern that has complicated the commercial rollout of first-generation anti-amyloid therapies. It also targets a low-volume subcutaneous administration route, a meaningful convenience advantage over current IV-infusion dependent treatments.

Korsana is the seventh company to launch with assets discovered through Paragon Therapeutics, a track record that adds credibility to the platform’s pedigree.

Key Milestones on the Horizon

The $380 million in financing is structured to carry Korsana through two pivotal data readouts: Phase 1 healthy volunteer data from KRSA-028 expected in mid-2027, and interim proof-of-concept data measuring amyloid plaque clearance in Alzheimer’s patients expected by the end of 2027. If those readouts deliver, the story accelerates significantly.

The Mechanics of the Deal

Under the merger terms, existing Cyclerion shareholders will own approximately 1.5% of the combined company, with Korsana stockholders — inclusive of the private placement participants — holding the remaining 98.5%. That’s a near-total reset of the cap table, which is standard for this type of reverse merger structure where the private company is clearly the operating entity driving the deal.

The transaction has been approved by both boards and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder approvals and customary regulatory conditions including HSR clearance.

Wedbush Securities acted as exclusive strategic financial advisor to Korsana. Jefferies, TD Cowen, Stifel, and UBS served as placement agents. Ropes & Gray advised Cyclerion.

For small and microcap investors, the Korsana story is worth tracking closely. A well-capitalized, differentiated Alzheimer’s platform with a clear clinical timeline and institutional backing is exactly the kind of setup that can move quickly once data starts flowing.

Cadrenal Therapeutics (CVKD) – Cadrenal Reports FY2025 With Clinical Progress

Posted on by [email protected]


Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Robert LeBoyer, Senior Vice President, Equity Research Analyst, Biotechnology, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Progress On CAD-1005 Reported With FY2025 Results. Cadrenal reported a loss for 4Q25 of $3.0 million or $(1.42) per share and a FY2025 loss of $13.2 million or $(6.64) per share. Importantly, it recently held its End-Of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA to receive guidance for the planned Phase 3 trial for CAD-1005 in HIT (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia). The company had cash and equivalents of $4.0 million on December 31, 2025.

Lead Indication Reported Phase 2 Data. As discussed in our Research Note on February 25, Cadrenal reported results from its Phase 2 study of CAD-1005 in HIT. The trial was designed to show CAD-1005 improved platelet recovery and tested platelet count recovery as a biomarker for thrombosis and outcome. The data did not show a correlation between platelet count normalization and thrombotic events, but did show an important reduction in thrombotic events exceeding 25% in the CAD-1005 treatment arm compared with placebo.


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Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

NeuroSense Therapeutics Ltd. (NRSN) – NeuroSense Reports FY2025 With Outlook For The Year

Posted on by [email protected]


Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Robert LeBoyer, Senior Vice President, Equity Research Analyst, Biotechnology, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

FY2025 Reported With PrimeC Progress Review. NeuroSense reported a loss for FY2025 of $11.1 million or $(0.44) per share. The company gave updates to its ongoing PrimeC development programs and expected milestones for the coming year in ALS and Alzheimer’s disease. As of December 31, 2025, NeuroSense had cash of approximately $0.2 million.

Phase 3 In ALS Has Received FDA Clearance. During November 2025, NeuroSense received FDA clearance to initiate the Phase 3 trial in ALS. The company has completed commercial-scale manufacturing and continues to prepare for the Phase 3 trial, which we expect to begin later in FY2026.


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

MAIA Biotechnology (MAIA) – MAIA Reports Two-Year Survival Data At Medical Conference

Posted on by [email protected]


Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Robert LeBoyer, Senior Vice President, Equity Research Analyst, Biotechnology, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

New Data Presented Shows Long-Term Survival. MAIA presented data from its Phase 2 THIO-101 trial at the European Lung Cancer Congress 2026 (ELCC) held recently in Copenhagen, Denmark. The presentation included data from patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had relapsed after treatment with standard chemotherapy. Data from 8 patients showed survival exceeding 2 years and greatly exceeded the expected survival for patients at their stage of disease.

Phase 2 Trial Design. THIO-101 was designed in three stages. Part A was basic safety, and Part B was a dose-finding stage. These two stages treated a total of 79 patients. The ongoing Part C is an expansion stage enrolling up to 48 participants in Asia and Europe. The patients are treated with ateganosine (aka THIO) followed by cemiplimab (Libtayo, from Regeneron). 


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

GoHealth (GOCO) – Resetting the Model for Sustainable Growth

Posted on by [email protected]


Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Equity Research Analyst, Digital, Media & Technology , Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Jacob Mutchler, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

Results weaker than expected. Full year 2025 revenue of $361.9 million was well below our $434.2 million estimate. Management emphasized that the Medicare Advantage market remains in a structural reset heading into 2026, with carriers prioritizing retention, member quality, margin integrity, and disciplined unit economics over enrollment growth. Full year 2025 adj. EBITDA loss estimate of $35.1 million was more than our loss estimate of $29.6 million. 

Strategic reset. The company has deliberately reduced Medicare Advantage enrollments where first-renewal economics were unattractive, prioritizing long-term profitability and appropriate consumer plan fit. At the same time, it has maintained leadership in Special Needs Plans (SNP), benefiting from carrier focus on high-need, high-retention populations. 


Get the Full Report

Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

The GLP-1 Race Goes Oral: FDA Approves Lilly’s Foundayo, Reshaping the Obesity Market and the Competitive Landscape

Posted on by [email protected]

The FDA approved Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Foundayo (orforglipron) today, a once-daily oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for adults with obesity or overweight with weight-related medical conditions. The approval marks a pivotal shift in one of the fastest-growing drug categories in history — and for small and microcap investors, the ripple effects are worth paying close attention to.

Foundayo joins Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill as the only two oral GLP-1 medications with FDA approval, but Lilly is positioning its drug as the more flexible option. Unlike the Wegovy pill, which must be taken in the morning 30 minutes before eating or drinking, Foundayo can be taken at any time of day and without restrictions on food and water.

It’s worth noting that Lilly is having one of the busiest 24-hour stretches in recent memory. Yesterday, the company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals for up to $47.00 per share — a deal valued at approximately $7.8 billion — to bolster its neuroscience pipeline in sleep-wake disorders. [Related: Eli Lilly Banks $6.3 Billion on Sleep Science with Centessa Pharmaceuticals Acquisition] Today’s FDA approval underscores just how aggressively Lilly is moving across multiple therapeutic fronts simultaneously.

The Numbers Behind the Pill

In the ATTAIN-1 trial, patients receiving the highest dose who remained on treatment lost a mean of 27.3 pounds (12.4%) compared with 2.2 pounds (0.9%) among those receiving placebo. That’s meaningfully below the 20%+ weight loss seen with injectable GLP-1s like Zepbound, but Lilly isn’t positioning this as a replacement — it’s positioning it as an on-ramp.

Analysts estimate Foundayo sales will reach $14.79 billion by 2030, compared to expectations of $24.68 billion for Zepbound. On pricing, eligible people with commercial insurance may pay as little as $25 per month, self-pay patients can access it starting at $149 per month, and eligible Medicare Part D patients may access it for $50 per month beginning July 1, 2026.

The FDA reviewed the Foundayo application in just 50 days under a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher pilot program, making it the fastest approval of a new molecular entity since 2002. That regulatory speed is its own headline.

What This Means for the Broader Market

The oral GLP-1 approval isn’t just a Lilly story — it’s a market structure story. Injectable GLP-1s built a massive but friction-filled market: cold storage requirements, weekly injection routines, and access barriers kept a significant portion of eligible patients on the sidelines. Fewer than 1 in 10 people who could benefit from a GLP-1 are currently taking one. A pill changes that calculus dramatically, and a larger addressable patient pool creates downstream opportunities across the healthcare ecosystem.

For smaller companies building in adjacent spaces — weight management technology platforms, metabolic disease diagnostics, complementary therapeutics — this approval accelerates the market they’re betting on. Novo Nordisk’s early data already suggests the pill is expanding the obesity treatment market rather than simply cannibalizing injectable demand, with more than 600,000 prescriptions for the Wegovy pill recorded in March alone.

The Competitive Pressure Is Real

Lilly’s approval also puts pressure on every company in the obesity space without an oral option. Novo has a head start on the pill market but carries the food and water restriction disadvantage. Other GLP-1 developers — many of them smaller biotechs — now face an even higher innovation bar. The era of “we have a GLP-1” being sufficient is over. Differentiation by mechanism, convenience, side effect profile, or patient population is now the only viable path to relevance.

Lilly expects Foundayo approval in more than 40 countries over the next year and has invested more than $55 billion in manufacturing since 2020 to support global scale — a moat that smaller competitors cannot easily replicate, making niche differentiation even more critical for emerging players.

The oral GLP-1 market is now officially open. The question for small and microcap investors is which companies are building the infrastructure, tools, and therapies that benefit from a world where obesity treatment becomes a daily pill.

Biogen Banks $5.6 Billion on Apellis as Big Pharma M&A Appetite for Biotech Heats Up

Posted on by [email protected]

Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) is making its most consequential portfolio move in years, announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: APLS) for $41.00 per share in cash — an upfront equity consideration of approximately $5.6 billion — plus a contingent value right (CVR) tied to future sales milestones for its flagship eye disease therapy. The deal closed out March with a statement: big pharma is hungry, and specialty biotech is on the menu.

The transaction carries an 86% premium to Apellis’ 90-day volume-weighted average stock price and a 35% premium to its 52-week high. It is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

What Biogen Is Getting

At the center of the deal are two commercialized complement-targeting therapies: SYFOVRE® (pegcetacoplan injection), approved for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration, and EMPAVELI® (pegcetacoplan), approved across three rare immune-mediated conditions — C3 glomerulopathy (C3G), primary IC-MPGN, and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).

Together, the two drugs generated $689 million in combined net product revenue in 2025, with growth expected in the mid-to-high teens annually through at least 2028. For a company navigating revenue headwinds from its legacy MS portfolio, that near-term visibility is exactly what Biogen needed.

SYFOVRE holds particular strategic weight as the first-ever approved therapy for geographic atrophy — a progressive retinal disease affecting more than five million people globally. Long-term efficacy data shows the drug can delay GA lesion progression by approximately 1.5 years in key patient populations, giving the asset durable commercial runway. The GA space is one that smaller innovators are also actively pursuing. Ocugen (Nasdaq: OCGN), is developing a gene therapy approach targeting inherited retinal diseases — the kind of differentiated, mechanism-driven science that has increasingly attracted large-cap attention.

The Nephrology Angle

Beyond the immediate revenue story, the strategic rationale runs deeper into kidney disease. Apellis brings an established nephrology sales infrastructure that Biogen intends to leverage for felzartamab, its Phase 3 kidney disease candidate with a first trial readout expected in the first half of 2027.

EMPAVELI’s rare kidney disease approvals — including the only FDA-approved treatment for pediatric patients with C3G and the first approval for post-transplant C3G recurrence — underscore how defensible rare nephrology positions can be. Two other emerging growth companies are staking ground in adjacent kidney disease spaces: Unicycive Therapeutics (Nasdaq: UNCY), developing oxylanthanum carbonate for hyperphosphatemia in chronic kidney disease patients, and Eledon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ELDN), advancing therapies focused on reducing kidney transplant rejection. The Biogen-Apellis deal reinforces that nephrology is becoming a high-value destination for large-cap dealmaking.

A Market Signal Worth Noting

The Apellis acquisition didn’t land in a vacuum. Earlier today, Eli Lilly announced a separate agreement to acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals for up to $47.00 per share — a deal valued at approximately $7.8 billion including contingent payments — to bolster its neuroscience pipeline in sleep-wake disorders. Two major biotech acquisitions announced on the same day signals something broader: pharmaceutical companies with strong balance sheets are actively scanning for de-risked, commercially validated or late-stage assets, and they’re willing to pay premium prices to get them.

For investors tracking small and microcap biotech, that backdrop matters. Companies building real clinical differentiation in immunology, nephrology, and ophthalmology are operating in exactly the spaces that large pharma is now paying billions to enter.

CVR Structure and Financial Outlook

The CVR entitles Apellis shareholders to two potential payments of $2 per share, contingent on SYFOVRE hitting $1.5 billion and $2 billion in annual global net sales between 2027 and 2030. Biogen expects the deal to be increasingly accretive to non-GAAP diluted EPS starting in 2027, with full de-leveraging targeted by end of 2027.

Release – GoHealth Prioritizes Consumer Fit, Renewal Economics and Cash Discipline While Continuing Leadership in Special Needs Plans; Reports Full Year 2025 Results

Posted on by [email protected]

Research News and Market Data on GOCO

Mar 31, 2026 at 4:20 PM EDT

Disciplined posture reflects consumer-first enrollment, an intentional Medicare Advantage pullback driven by market realities, continued special needs plans (“SNP”) leadership, targeted AI investment, and a focus on cash, back-book durability, and consolidation readiness

CHICAGO, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GoHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOCO) (“GoHealth” or the “Company”), a leading health insurance marketplace and Medicare-focused digital health company, today announced financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025.

GoHealth’s Chief Executive Officer, Vijay Kotte commented, “The Medicare Advantage market remains in a structural reset going into 2026, and our view is that health plans continue to prioritize retention, member quality, and disciplined unit economics. We anticipated many of these dynamics earlier in the cycle, and our pullback in 2025 was intentional. In this environment, consumers need a trusted partner more than ever. Our focus is helping ensure members enroll in plans that truly fit their needs, even when that means confirming their current coverage remains the best option. At the same time, we are maintaining disciplined focus on cash and improving our capital structure, while continuing tactical investments in technology and AI that improve efficiency today, support lower acquisition costs now and in the future, and position us to ramp quickly as conditions improve.”

GoHealth navigated a materially different Medicare Advantage environment by intentionally pulling back Medicare Advantage activity, while aiming to preserve a consumer-first approach, protect liquidity, and invest in core capabilities, which should enable GoHealth to scale when market conditions stabilize. Based on its analysis, GoHealth believes health plans will continue to emphasize margin integrity, renewal stability, and long-term member value over raw enrollment growth.

GoHealth anticipated this shift and aligned its operating model, accordingly, focusing on:

  • Retention and High-Quality Member Book: Delivered materially improved year-over-year retention, reinforcing cohort quality and proprietary PlanFit logic while supporting the durability of GoHealth’s commission receivable asset and broader back book.
  • Intentional Pullback Grounded in Consumer Fit and Renewal Economics: Deliberately pulled back Medicare Advantage activity where first-renewal probability did not support attractive economics, prioritizing appropriate plan fit for consumers and long-term cohort quality.
  • Leadership with Special Needs Plans (“SNP”) populations: Continued leadership in key SNP categories due to our proprietary enrollment and servicing tools, technology and experience, as health plans pursued targeted growth while member stability, renewal duration, and outcomes remained especially important.
  • Technology and AI Investment: Continued targeted investment in built-for-purpose, proprietary agentic AI and automation to lower customer acquisition costs, improve year-one payback, reduce operational friction, and enable agents with more capacity to focus on top-of-license advisory work, while supporting a consumer-first approach by helping ensure members are matched with the plans that best meet their needs.
  • Strategic Flexibility: Optimized cash, protected the commissions receivable, and preserved operating flexibility.
  • Consolidation Readiness: Maintaining high conviction that the fragmented broker landscape will consolidate, positioning GoHealth to lead disciplined integration opportunities with the right partners at the right time.

“Our full-year performance reflects disciplined execution in a market where health plans are prioritizing margin stability and member quality”, said Brendan Shanahan, CFO of GoHealth. “Operating cash flow will remain the primary lens for our capital allocation decisions. As we move forward, we are concentrating investment where we have confidence in durable returns, strengthening retention, and continuing to improve efficiency through practical automation and AI.”

About GoHealth, Inc.
GoHealth is a leading health insurance marketplace and Medicare-focused digital health company whose purpose is to compassionately ensure consumers’ peace of mind when making healthcare decisions so they can focus on living life. For many of these consumers, enrolling in a health insurance plan is confusing and difficult, and seemingly small differences between health plans may lead to significant out-of-pocket costs or lack of access to critical providers and medicines. GoHealth’s proprietary technology platform leverages modern machine-learning algorithms, powered by over two decades of insurance purchasing behavior, to reimagine the process of matching a health plan to a consumer’s specific needs. Its unbiased, technology-driven marketplace coupled with highly skilled licensed agents has facilitated the enrollment of millions of consumers in Medicare plans since GoHealth’s inception. For more information, visit https://www.gohealth.com.

Investor Relations:
John Shave
[email protected]
 
Media Relations:
[email protected]

View full release here.

Eli Lilly Invests $6.3 Billion on Sleep Science with Centessa Pharmaceuticals Acquisition

Posted on by [email protected]

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is making one of its boldest neuroscience moves yet, announcing a definitive agreement to acquire clinical-stage biotech Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) in a deal valued at up to $47.00 per share — representing a total potential equity value approaching $7.8 billion when contingent payments are included.

The upfront cash consideration of $38.00 per share reflects an aggregate equity value of approximately $6.3 billion and carries a 40.5% premium to Centessa’s 30-day volume-weighted average trading price ended March 30, 2026. Shareholders will also receive one non-transferable contingent value right (CVR) worth up to an additional $9.00 per share, tied to three FDA approval milestones for Centessa’s lead drug candidates.

What Lilly Is Really Buying

The deal is fundamentally about orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) science — a mechanism that sits at the neurobiological center of how the brain regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Centessa has spent years building what it believes is a potential best-in-class pipeline of OX2R agonists, with its lead candidate cleminorexton (formerly ORX750) having already shown promising Phase 2a clinical data across three major sleep disorders: narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia.

Beyond cleminorexton, Centessa’s portfolio includes additional clinical and preclinical-stage assets targeting neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric indications — giving Lilly a broader platform than a single drug acquisition would suggest.

The CVR Structure

The contingent value rights break down as follows: $2.00 per CVR upon FDA approval of cleminorexton or ORX142 for narcolepsy type 2 before the fifth anniversary of close; $5.00 per CVR upon FDA approval for idiopathic hypersomnia within the same window; and $2.00 per CVR upon the first FDA approval of either candidate for any indication before January 1, 2030.

CVR structures are increasingly common in biopharma M&A as a tool to bridge valuation gaps between buyers and sellers when clinical outcomes remain uncertain. For Centessa shareholders, the arrangement means meaningful upside if the pipeline delivers — but no guarantees.

Strategic Fit and Timing

The acquisition lands at a moment when sleep disorder therapeutics are gaining serious commercial momentum. The emergence of orexin-based therapies — like Idorsia’s daridorexant and Eisai and Biogen’s lemborexant — has validated the mechanism on the wake-promotion side of the equation. Centessa’s OX2R agonist approach works in the opposite direction, promoting wakefulness rather than suppressing it, which addresses a different and underserved patient population.

For Lilly, a company already navigating massive commercial demands from its GLP-1 and Alzheimer’s franchises, adding a differentiated neuroscience platform signals a commitment to diversifying its long-range pipeline.

The transaction is structured as a scheme of arrangement under English and Welsh law and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending Centessa shareholder approval, High Court sanction, and customary regulatory clearances. Approximately 24.1% of Centessa’s outstanding shares are already locked up through voting and support agreements signed by major investors including Medicxi Ventures, Index Ventures, and General Atlantic.

Unicycive Therapeutics (UNCY) – FY2025 Loss Reported With OLC PDUFA Data Approaching

Posted on by [email protected]


Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Robert LeBoyer, Senior Vice President, Equity Research Analyst, Biotechnology, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

NDA Sumisssion Was Accepted In January. Unicycive reported loss for FYQ25 of $26.6 million or $(1.67) per share. Importantly, the resubmission of the NDA for oxylanthanum calcium (OLC), its phosphate binder for controlling high phosphate levels in renal dialysis patients, was accepted for filing by the FDA. The PDUFA data is June 19, 2026. Cash on December 31, 2026 was $54.9 million, which we estimate is sufficient to last through product launch and the first quarter of OLC sales.

We Believe Previous Issues Have Been Settled. The NDA was submitted in December 2025 and accepted for filing in January. FDA acceptance and notification of the PDUFA date signifies that the application is complete for review. There were no questions about the third-party manufacturing issue that stopped the review process in June 2025. We believe the corrective actions have addressed the problem, allowing for marketing approval by June 2026.


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