--- title: 'Industry Daily Summary: What Happened on October 23, 2026' headline: Gilead pays PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for oral IL-23 drug description: Celltrion and Menarini also signed licensing deals, while several life-sciences companies named new leaders. url: https://thebench.bio/news/industry/2026-10-23 topic: industry date: '2026-10-23' covers: - '2026-10-23' date_published: '2026-10-23T12:04:27Z' date_modified: '2026-10-23T12:04:27Z' tags: - Industry sources: 4 publisher: TheBench.Bio --- # Industry Daily Summary: What Happened on October 23, 2026 **Gilead pays PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for oral IL-23 drug** Celltrion and Menarini also signed licensing deals, while several life-sciences companies named new leaders. ## Today in brief Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for worldwide rights to an oral IL-23 inhibitor program led by Phase 1 candidate HCXT-2001. [1] Celltrion licensed global rights to Kaigene’s KG013 in a deal worth up to $580 million, and Menarini agreed to pay $45 million upfront and in near-term payments for Georgiamune’s preclinical cancer candidate GIM-621. [2] [3] ## Gilead pays $1.275 billion upfront for PepStar’s oral drug program Gilead agreed to pay PepStar $1.275 billion upfront for worldwide rights to its oral IL-23 receptor inhibitor program, including HCXT-2001, which is in Phase 1 trials. [1] Gilead is prioritizing development for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), though it has not specified the indications it will target. [1] Gilead chief medical officer Dietmar Berger said HCXT-2001’s extended half-life could distinguish it within the company’s inflammation pipeline. [1] Berger said Gilead sees potential to develop the drug alone or with emvistegrast, an oral integrin inhibitor in mid-stage development for IBD that met its primary endpoint in a Phase 2 ulcerative colitis study. [1] Gilead completed three acquisitions in 2026 and signed a separate licensing agreement with Vir Biotechnology as it builds its pipeline. [1] ## Celltrion licenses Kaigene antibody in deal worth up to $580 million Celltrion secured exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to Kaigene’s investigational antibody KG013 in a deal valued at up to $580 million. [2] The package includes upfront and milestone payments, with sales royalties paid separately. Kaigene can also choose to co-market the drug in South Korea. [2] KG013 targets APRIL, a signaling protein involved in plasma-cell survival and antibody production, to reduce harmful IgA and IgM antibodies. [2] Kaigene plans to pursue IgA nephropathy first. Its chief executive said about 160,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with the disease. [2] The fully human antibody is designed for longer-lasting activity and subcutaneous dosing. [2] ## Menarini licenses Georgiamune’s preclinical cancer candidate Menarini licensed worldwide rights to Georgiamune’s oral cancer immunotherapy candidate GIM-621 for $45 million in upfront and near-term payments. [3] Milestone payments could raise the deal’s value to $1.1 billion. Royalties are also payable. [3] GIM-621 has not entered human trials. [3] The companies said they intend the candidate for cancers that fail to respond to existing immunotherapies or become resistant to them. [3] ## Also worth knowing - Sensorion named Peter Weber chief medical officer, effective November 2, as it prepares clinical development of a gene therapy for GJB2-related hearing loss. CRISPR Therapeutics appointed A.J. Silver chief financial officer, and Orano Med, Neovii, Repairon and Maxion Therapeutics also announced leadership changes. [4] ## The day in numbers - **$1.275 billion**: Gilead’s upfront payment to PepStar for the oral IL-23 inhibitor program. [1] - **Up to $580 million**: Potential value of Celltrion’s license deal for Kaigene’s KG013, before separate sales royalties. [2] - **$45 million**: Upfront and near-term payments Menarini agreed to make for GIM-621. [3] ## Also published - [Building the next generation of sustainable data centres in pharma](), Pharmaceutical Technology - [Bramacare opens supported-living facility for eating disorder recovery](), Pharmafile - [Oura sues rival Ultrahuman again, threatening its U.S. smart ring comeback](), TechCrunch Biotech and Health ## Sources 1. [Gilead spends $1.28bn on PepStar’s potential Icotyde rival ](), Pharmaceutical Technology, 2026-10-23 2. [Celltrion and Kaigene sign $580m licence deal for KG013](), Pharmaceutical Technology, 2026-10-23 3. [Menarini adds Georgiamune’s oral immunotherapy candidate to its solid-tumor portfolio for $45M upfront](), European Biotechnology, 2026-10-23 4. [Sensorion names CMO; Orano Med adds CSO; CRISPR Therapeutics changes CFO](), European Biotechnology, 2026-10-23 --- TheBench.Bio wrote this from the reporting cited above, with a language model drafting and editing. [1]: [2]: [3]: [4]: