Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) agreed to pay Agenus Inc. $200 million up front and as much as $1.36 billion in milestone rewards for advancement of the preclinical anti-TIGIT, Fc-enhanced bispecific antibody AGEN-1777. Solely responsible for development and commercialization of the compound, BMS also would provide tiered, double-digit royalties on sales of any product resulting. AGEN-1777 is designed to target major inhibitory receptors expressed on T and NK cells. Shares of Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) were trading midday at $4.10, up 84 cents, or almost 26%.

Hummingbird Bioscience closes $125 million series C

HONG KONG - Hummingbird Bioscience Pte. Ltd. has raised $125 million in a series C financing to further investments in its early stage pipeline, as well as support the clinical development of its two lead programs, a HER3 antibody and an anti-VISTA neutralizing antibody, each of which are expected to enter phase I trials this year. The financing was led by Novo Holdings.

Vedere Bio II launches with $77 million series A financing

Less than a year after Novartis AG's acquisition of optogenetics specialist Vedere Bio Inc., its successor Vedere Bio II Inc., is launching with $77 million in series A financing, led by Octagon Capital. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company will develop earlier-stage assets than those Novartis purchased, including new, mutation-agnostic optogenetics technology to improve upon current gene therapies aimed at restoring functional vision to people with vision loss due to photoreceptor death.

Interius launches with $76M series A for treating hematologic malignancies

Preclinical gene therapy company Interius Biotherapeutics Inc. has raised $76 million in an oversubscribed series A financing. Interius’ initial focus is on treating hematologic malignancies by generating CAR T cells in vivo. The Philadelphia-based company platform bypasses ex vivo cell manipulations and the often toxic pre-conditioning chemotherapy called for in standard CAR T-cell treatments. The round was co-led by Cormorant Asset Management and Fairmount Funds, and joined by Bain Capital Life Sciences, Pfizer Ventures, RA Capital Management, Longwood Fund, Logos Capital, Osage University Partners and Quan Capital.

Eurekare’s $60M series A to build, support microbiome and synthetic biology firms

LONDON – Technology commercialization specialist Eurekare SA has arrived on the scene after raising a $60 million series A, with which it plans to seed fund the formation of microbiome and synthetic biology startups and invest in later-stage rounds of companies specializing in those two fields. The money will be invested solely in European science, which, in the view of Eurekare’s founders, is at the forefront of microbiome and synthetic biology but facing the perennial problem of a shortage of funding for commercialization.

FTC asked to investigate Abbvie’s tactics

A grueling day of congressional questions and accusations won’t be the end of a U.S. House Oversight Committee investigation into Abbvie Inc.’s pricing of blockbuster drugs Humira (adalimumab) and Imbruvica (ibrutinib). In her opening comments at the May 18 hearing, committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said she has asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for a formal inquiry into whether Abbvie’s tactics to protect its drugs from competition violate any laws. Drug companies need to invest in developing new drugs – not new ways to delay competition, she added.

Bergenbio undeterred by bemcentinib miss in COVID-19 trial as subgroup analysis identifies a forward path

DUBLIN – Bergenbio ASA joins an expanding list of companies whose candidate drug has failed to attain the primary endpoint of a clinical trial in COVID-19. Its repurposed AXL kinase inhibitor, bemcentinib, plus standard of care was marginally better than standard of care alone in an open-label phase II trial in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in reducing time to clinical improvement (an improvement of two points or more on the WHO’s nine-point disease severity scale) or time to discharge or fitness for discharge, but the difference was not statistically significant. Nevertheless, the Bergen, Norway-based firm is optimistic about a potential efficacy signal identified in a post-hoc subgroup analysis, which suggested that, in patients with more severe disease, bemcentinib on top of standard of care increased ventilator-free survival at day 29 as compared with standard of care alone.

Citing public interest, FDA speaks out on COVID-19 candidate

In a rare move, the FDA disclosed summary trial information about Cytodyn Inc.’s leronlimab, a monoclonal antibody tested in two COVID-19 trials. “Although FDA generally cannot disclose confidential information about unapproved products, we have concluded that given the significant public interest in leronlimab, it is important to provide summary information about the status of the Cytodyn development program,” the agency said. Countering the company’s public comments focused on an analysis of small subgroups in the second trial, the FDA said, “The data currently available do not support the clinical benefit of leronlimab for the treatment of COVID-19.”

Kinnate joins Orbimed to set up Shanghai JV for lung cancer drug

Amid the trend of investors partnering with Western biotech companies to set up China-focused joint ventures, San Diego-based Kinnate Biopharma Inc. has joined Orbimed Asia Partners, Orbimed Private Investments and Foresite Capital to establish a joint venture in Shanghai to move its preclinical kinase inhibitor candidates forward in greater China.

Newco news: Australian serial entrepreneur Darren Kelly tackles fibrosis yet again in Certa Therapeutics

PERTH, Australia – Certa Therapeutics Pty Ltd. founder and CEO Darren Kelly knows a thing or two about launching biotech companies. He spun out Fibrotech in 2006 from the University of Melbourne, which was one of the Medical Research Commercialization Fund’s first investments.

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