Flare Therapeutics Inc. will receive $70 million in cash up front from Roche Holding AG, and the deal could ultimately bring the company about $1.8 billion plus royalties. Flare will search for small molecules that can be used to treat undruggable transcription factors to treat cancer. Also, Novartis AG will pay Schrödinger Inc. $150 million up front and as much as $2.3 billion in milestones to develop several candidates along with up to $892 million in R&D and milestone payments. The two companies also expanded their software agreement that allows Novartis use of Schrödinger’s computational predictive modeling technology and enterprise informatics platform. Schrödinger’s stock (NASDAQ:SDGR) was up 11% at midday, with shares going to $21.66 each.

Vesalius-GSK $650M pact: Targeting Parkinson’s root causes

More than two years since emerging from stealth, Vesalius Therapeutics signed its first major pharma deal with GSK plc. Worth up to $650 million and possibly more if options are exercised, the multitarget alliance aims to discover and develop novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease and another neurodegenerative indication. “What we’re pursuing at Vesalius is a new paradigm on treating common diseases,” John Mendlein, the company’s executive chairman and interim CEO, told BioWorld. “We’re doing this in a manner that includes redefining disease itself.” Terms call for $80 million in up-front and equity payments to Vesalius, and up to $570 million in potential preclinical, development and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties, for a preclinical small-molecule program.

Abbisko’s pimicotinib meets endpoints in phase III

Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor, pimicotinib, met both primary and secondary endpoints in the phase III Maneuver global study evaluating pimicotinib for treatment of tenosynovial giant cell tumor. Based on the data, Abbisko will file an NDA in China on behalf of Merck KGaA, which holds China commercialization rights to pimicotinib, Abbisko founder and CEO Yao-Chang Xu told BioWorld.

Syndax stock falters on phase II data with revumenib

Shares of Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SNDX) dipped $4.61, or 21%, to $17.17 after the firm disclosed top-line data from the pivotal phase II part of the Augment-101 study. The effort was designed to test the oral small-molecule menin inhibitor revumenib, and Syndax offered results in the cohort of patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) mutant NPM1 acute myeloid leukemia. The company expects the U. S. FDA to approve revumenib for the treatment of r/r KMT2A-rearranged acute leukemia this quarter.

Alentis adds $181M in series D for Claudin-1-focused ADC trials

Alentis SA is poised to expand its reach in Claudin-1 biology, after closing a $181.4 million series D that will fund phase I/II clinical trials of two antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting the transmembrane protein, which is overexpressed on a number of squamous cell tumors. The ADC programs build on three clinical trials in fibrosis, where Alentis has demonstrated its antibody is specific for aberrant Claudin-1 that drives the pathological accumulation of extracellular matrix.

Extrachromosomal DNA acts as joker for cancer cells

Cancer therapies can eliminate specific tumors based on their genetic content. However, some cancer cells survive. How do they do it? Part of the answer lies in extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), an ace up the tumors’ sleeve to adapt and evade attack. Three simultaneous studies in the journal Nature lay all the cards on the table, revealing ecDNAs’ content, their origin, their inheritance, their influence in cancer, and a way to combat them.

Also in the news

Abbvie, Alk-Abelló, Alligator, Ardelyx, Argenx, ARS, Autolus, Beyondspring, Biocytogen, Cantargia, Cerevance, Chimerix, Citius, Crescent, Cue, Enterobiotix, Everest Medicines, Hepion, Ideaya, Johnson & Johnson, Kailera, Marengo, Neurizon, Nordic, Novavax, Oncoinvent, Palleon, Pharma Two B, Rapt, Recce, Relief, Replimune, Resolution, Resq, Storm, Tectonic, Wugen, Zai Lab