Switzerland
Lonza: higher profitability targets at its Capital Markets Day
At its Capital Markets Day, Lonza set a CORE EBITDA margin target in the high thirties for the mid-term, its first explicit margin target since it dropped its 2028 guidance (32–34%) in December 2024, and a return on capital of two to three times its cost of capital. Its organic sales growth goal stays at low-teens (10–13%) at constant currency on average over time. Lonza plans over CHF 7B of organic investment through 2030 and a CHF 500M buyback once the capsules sale closes in Q4. Q3 was in line, and the 2026 outlook (11–12% growth, 33–34% margin), raised after H1, is confirmed.
In plain words
What happened. Lonza, a Swiss company that makes medicines under contract for drug developers, told investors it expects to keep growing sales by about 10–13% a year and has raised its profit-margin target.
Why it matters. Many biotech companies do not build their own factories; they hire firms like Lonza. Lonza plans to invest more than CHF 7 billion in new capacity by 2030, betting that demand for this outsourced production keeps growing. It also confirmed its targets for this year.
Context Largely anticipated: the Capital Markets Day was scheduled, and Lonza already expects a 33–34% margin in 2026, at the top of the range it had set for 2028 in 2023. The growth goal is not new: Lonza has guided to low-teens organic growth since December 2024, after raising its 2028 sales target to 12–15% a year with the Vacaville purchase in March 2024. The sale of capsules and health ingredients makes Lonza a pure contract manufacturer (CDMO), with 2025 sales of CHF 6.5B. Vacaville, bought from Roche in 2024 for CHF 1.1B, has 332,000 litres of capacity and is expected to reach up to CHF 2B of sales in the early 2030s.
Germany
BioNTech: BNT113 misses on progression-free survival, trial continues for overall survival
In the Phase 2/3 AHEAD-MERIT trial, BNT113, an off-the-shelf mRNA immunotherapy that trains the immune system against two HPV16 proteins, added to Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) did not significantly delay disease progression versus Keytruda alone at the first analysis. Patients had untreated recurrent or metastatic HPV16-positive head and neck cancer. Progression-free survival was one of two primary endpoints; the independent monitoring committee recommended continuing to the other, overall survival, and a significant survival benefit would still make the trial positive. No patient numbers, hazard ratios or timing of the survival analysis were given; BioNTech remains blinded to the data.
In plain words
What happened. BioNTech, the German company behind a Covid vaccine, tested a cancer treatment based on messenger RNA (mRNA) in throat and mouth cancers caused by a virus called HPV16. Added to the standard drug Keytruda, it did not slow the cancer significantly more than Keytruda alone.
Why it matters. The trial is not over: it also measures how long patients live, and a clear gain there would still count as success. No date for that result was given.
What it means for others. Nykode, a Norwegian company testing an HPV16 vaccine with Keytruda in the same cancer, faces more doubt about the approach, but uses a different technology and its trial is earlier.
Context Not a full surprise: a Leerink analyst had expected a miss, partly because patients with lower PD-L1 levels were enrolled, according to BioPharma Dive; BMO said the result significantly lowered its confidence in a survival benefit. A survival win remains possible in principle: an earlier Keytruda Phase 3 in head and neck cancer missed on progression-free survival but showed a lasting survival benefit. BNT113 received FDA Fast Track designation in January 2026; earlier this year BioNTech ended a mid-stage colorectal cancer trial of another mRNA immunotherapy.
Read-across Mixed for Nykode Therapeutics (NYKD, Oslo), whose HPV16 DNA vaccine VB10.16 is in a Phase 1/2 trial with pembrolizumab in the same first-line setting: the first randomised test of this combination approach missed on progression-free survival, but survival is still open and the platforms differ.
Evotec: nine-month figures above expectations, guidance confirmed
Evotec, which runs drug discovery and development for pharma and biotech partners, reported preliminary nine-month revenue of about €465.0M and an adjusted EBITDA loss of about €42.8M. It says both are above market expectations, mainly because of how consensus estimates were spread across the quarters. Full-year guidance is unchanged: revenue of €570–610M and an adjusted EBITDA loss of €70–105M. Full Q3 results follow on 5 November.
In plain words
What happened. Evotec, a German company that does research and development work for drug makers, said its sales and losses for January to September were better than analysts had expected.
Why it matters. Evotec lowered its forecast for this year in July. It has now confirmed that lower forecast rather than cutting again. It says the better figures are mostly about timing, not a change in the business.
Context Unscheduled: Evotec published the figures as an ad hoc release after market close. In July it cut its 2026 outlook, citing delayed partner milestones, slower new partnerships and currency effects; H1 revenue was €300.1M, down 19%, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of €42.7M. Set against those H1 figures, the nine-month numbers imply Q3 revenue of about €165M and roughly break-even adjusted EBITDA in the quarter. Evotec does not say how far above consensus the figures are.
Denmark
Zealand Pharma: AI protein deal with Generate Biomedicines in obesity
Zealand will pay US-based Generate Biomedicines $30M upfront to design multispecific proteins, molecules that act on several targets at once, for obesity and other metabolic diseases on Generate’s AI platform. Generate can earn up to $35M in early preclinical milestones and nearly $1.2B in total milestones, plus tiered royalties. The deal covers two programmes, with an option on a third. Generate leads research up to choosing a candidate; Zealand then runs development, filings and worldwide sales.
In plain words
What happened. Zealand, a Danish company working on weight-loss drugs, hired Generate, a US company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to design proteins, to create new drug candidates for obesity.
Why it matters. Zealand’s drugs so far are peptides, small protein pieces. This deal adds larger proteins designed to hit several targets at once. It is very early work, with no drug yet tested in people. Most of the up to $1.2 billion is only paid if the products succeed.
Context Unscheduled. Zealand says the deal “expands our toolbox to include proteins”, adding them to its peptide work; its lead drug, the amylin analogue petrelintide, is partnered with Roche, with registrational Phase 3 trials planned to start in H2 2026. The $30M upfront is small against Zealand’s cash of DKK 14.5B at the end of June. Typical of early discovery deals, most of the headline value is milestones tied to clinical, regulatory and sales success.
Sweden
Oncopeptides: SEK 100M share issue for its glioblastoma programme
Oncopeptides raised SEK 100M before costs by issuing 50 million new shares at SEK 2.00 to Swedish and international institutions, including SEK 10M from its largest shareholder HealthCap. The shares add about 11.6% to the share count. The money pays for manufacturing work, trial preparations and the next clinical phase of melflufen in glioblastoma, the most common aggressive brain cancer. In the first three patients of a small study, the drug was found in removed tumour tissue, showing it crosses the blood-brain barrier that keeps most cancer drugs out of the brain.
In plain words
What happened. Oncopeptides, a Swedish company, raised about SEK 100 million by selling new shares to professional investors.
Why it matters. Its drug melflufen is already sold in Europe for a blood cancer. The company now wants to test it in glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer. Early tests in three patients showed the drug reaches the brain tumour, which most cancer drugs cannot do. These are very early results: they do not yet show that the drug helps patients live longer.
Context Unscheduled, but it follows the first glioblastoma data published on 9 October. The raise funds a new indication rather than the existing business: melflufen is marketed in Europe as Pepaxti for multiple myeloma, H1 2026 sales rose 74% to SEK 56.5M, and a March rights issue of about SEK 167M was meant to fund that business until the positive cash flow the company expects in 2027. Cash was SEK 157.6M at the end of June.