Anthropic expands rare disease collaborations as Novo sues Lilly and Agios halts sickle cell drug

Anthropic, a biotech firm, announced it is expanding its partnership portfolio focused on rare disease therapeutics, deepening collaborations with several companies to advance pipeline candidates.

In a separate development, Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, accusing the rival of running a deceptive advertising campaign that relies on outdated clinical trial data to promote its obesity and diabetes medicines.

Agios Pharmaceuticals said it is stopping development of tebapivat for sickle cell disease after a Phase 2 trial failed to show a differentiated efficacy profile, leading the company to discontinue the program.

The newsletter also noted that Novartis posted second‑quarter earnings that met expectations and reaffirmed its guidance for 2026.