Cancer immunotherapy developer Xilio Therapeutics Inc. has raised $95 million in series C financing to support its efforts to move a duo of tumor-selective candidates into the clinic. IND applications for both its interleukin-2 agonist, XTX-202, and anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 antibody, XTX-101, are planned for this year.
Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. could receive an aggregate $1.1 billion from Coherus Biosciences Inc. for the rights to develop and commercialize Junshi’s anti-PD-1 antibody toripalimab in the U.S. and Canada. The deal is powered by Coherus’ core biosimilar business and is designed to steer the company into the business of immuno-oncology.
Dublin – IO Biotech ApS raised €127 million (US$154.7 million) in a series B round to fund a potentially pivotal trial of its combination of cancer vaccines in first-line metastatic melanoma. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based company is one of a number of firms fueling a mini-resurgence in immuno-oncology in the early weeks of the new year, as new data and new insights are prompting additional investments in an area that some had thought was already oversubscribed.
Shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Scholar Rock Holding Corp. closed Oct. 27 at $30.02, up $16.30, or 119%, on positive six-month interim analysis results from the Topaz phase II trial with inhibitor of myostatin activator SRK-015 in type 2 and type 3 spinal muscular atrophy, and CEO Tony Kingsley pointed to “a rich cascade of data ahead of us.”
LONDON – After 17 years of patient toil, Lytix Biopharma AS has landed the first commercial endorsement of its oncolytic peptide platform, agreeing to a potential $113.5 million deal in which Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will develop the lead product, LTX-315, as a transdermal treatment for skin cancer.
LONDON – Privately held U.K. biotech F-star Therapeutics Ltd. is gaining a Nasdaq listing via a reverse merger with Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals Inc., with F-star’s shareholders due to own 61% of the new entity, to be named F-star Therapeutics Inc.
LONDON – Swiss startup T3 Pharma AG has raised CHF25 million (US$26.7 million) in a series C round, to fund a 100-patient phase I/II study of its live bacteria cancer immunotherapy.
Gilead Sciences Inc. has acquired a 49.9% equity interest in privately held Pionyr Immunotherapeutics Inc., which could receive up to $1.15 billion in potential future milestone payments in the deal.
DUBLIN – Les Laboratoires Servier SAS has thrown its partner Symphogen A/S a lifeline by agreeing to a takeover deal in which the Danish firm will become Servier’s center of excellence for antibody development.
BEIJING – Osaka-based Japanese infectious disease specialist Shionogi & Co. Ltd. said it will partner with Chinese insurance giant Ping An to establish a data-driven joint venture to develop new drugs in a deal involving ¥33.53 billion (US$311 million). It also plans to tap into immuno-oncology to address the patent cliff of its HIV drugs. Under the terms, the Japanese pharma will sell a 2.05% voting stake, or 6.35 million shares of its common stock, to Ping An for ¥33.53 billion. Shionogi will own 51% of the joint venture while Ping An owns 49%, Shionogi IR group manager Kunihiro Mera told BioWorld.
