Astellas Pharma Inc.’s deal to take over South San Francisco-based Xyphos Biosciences Inc. brings $120 million up front in an arrangement with an eventual value as high as $665 million. Astellas, of Tokyo, gains the ACCEL (Advanced Cellular Control through Engineered Ligands) platform and will turn Xyphos into a wholly owned subsidiary. The latter has targeted 2021 for its lead candidate to enter human trials in immuno-oncology.

Springing back: Spring Bank stabilizes after phase IIb halt

The stock at Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SBPH), after an especially rough Thursday, began healing a bit as investors took in the company’s decision to stop dosing and enrolling patients in its phase IIb Catalyst trials. The studies of inarigivir soproxil 400 mg to treat chronic hepatitis B virus were halted, as was dosing and enrollment in all other Spring Bank studies of inarigivir in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Catalyst 2 lab findings revealed three subjects showing evidence of hepatocellular dysfunction and elevated alanine transaminase potentially consistent with liver injury rather than immune flares. The stock closed down 66.7% Thursday but rose 14% at midday today.

Foreign pharma’s strategy for China: Lower price for a bigger pie

BEIJING – China is aggressively pushing its goal to make drugs more affordable, and foreign pharma giants are adjusting their pricing strategy for a market that comprises nearly 20% of the world’s population and is expected to continue growing. To achieve its goals, China is using its huge population, which stands at 1.43 billion, as a bargaining chip to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. One measure to lower drug prices is centralized procurement program of bulk-buy drugs, which was launched first in certain cities last year and has now gone nationwide. After the government has determined how much of a particular drug it plans to buy, it invites drugmakers to propose the lowest prices under a bidding process to win rights to supply drugs to public hospitals.

By spying on quorum sensing, immune system picks its battles  

Bacteria have evolved an entire communication system, so-called quorum sensing, to monitor how many of their colleagues are in the vicinity, and then switch from growth to virulence only at high densities. In the Dec. 20, 2019, issue of Science, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology report that the immune system could calibrate its response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa by monitoring the bacterial quorum sensing chatter.   

Perspectives on the year: The industry has its say on scientific breakthroughs and ongoing policy sagas 

Throughout the year we have published the views of company executives, government regulators, industry analysts and scientists on a variety of topics and, in our popular annual feature, we include a selection of these that paints a picture of the significant events that shaped 2019. It was a year that marked impressive scientific milestones while the drug pricing debate and Brexit drama kept industry on its toes. 

Holiday notice

BioWorld's offices were closed in observance of Christmas. No issues were published Wednesday, Dec. 25, or Thursday, Dec. 26.

Also in the news

Abeona, Agex, Axsome, Codexis, Flexion, Genscript, Idera, Immunomedics, Innovation, Iterum, Kadmon, Mateon, Meiji, Melinta, Oncology Pharma, Outlook, Prevail, Qiagen, Roche, Saniona, Sanofi, Spectrum, Starton, Zai Lab, Zosano