Bristol Myers Squibb Co.'s ongoing investment in protein degradation, a field electrified by both high scientific interest and potentially big-dollar deals, expanded Oct. 4 to include a new research collaboration with Synthex Inc. Valued at up to $550 million for Synthex, plus possible royalties, the license agreement will see the pair use genetic engineering technologies to develop small-molecule degraders across multiple targets. BMS also made an up-front payment and investment in Synthex of undisclosed value.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) dodged a black-box warning on the label of just-approved Sotyktu (deucravacitinib), but hurdles lie ahead for the first-in-class, oral, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor. Designed to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy, Sotyktu is priced as $75,000 per year, and will become available during September, BMS said.

Structure-guided design for carbazole antagonists of Toll-like receptors 7 and 8 (TLR7/8) for the potential treatment of autoimmune disorders was reported by Bristol Myers Squibb Co. TLR activation can induce proinflammatory pathway activation, which has been identified in patients with lupus.

It’s another setback for Jounce Therapeutics Inc. Top-line data from the phase II Select study of vopratelimab, the company’s lead candidate, combined with pimivalimab vs. pimivalimab alone in 69 patients missed its primary endpoint of mean tumor change when averaged over nine and 18 weeks. The clinical trial participants were immunotherapy naïve, immunotherapy TIS^vopra biomarker-selected, second-line non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Factor XIa inhibitors milvexian and asundexian, hailed as the next-generation class of anticoagulants, earned mixed reviews on phase II data presented during the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2022. However, developers Bristol Myers Squibb Co./Janssen Pharmaceutical Co. and Bayer AG, respectively, are moving into late-stage testing, citing clear mechanisms of action that put the FXIa drugs at least on par with approved factor Xa drugs in terms of efficacy while offering potentially better safety profiles that could give physicians an option for patients with stroke or atrial fibrillation who are currently undertreated with anticoagulants due to bleeding risks.

As the PDUFA date looms for Bristol Myers Squibb Co. with its candidate, deucravacitinib, for psoriasis, others – notably Dice Therapeutics Inc. – strive for new solutions to the skin disease, which has remained problematic for many patients despite approvals of multiple drugs in various classes.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. has agreed to pay up to $1.9 billion plus royalties, plus an up-front payment of undisclosed value, for Gentibio Inc.’s expertise in engineered regulatory T cells (Tregs) to treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The agreement follows soon after BMS’ $4.1 billion acquisition of cancer biotech Turning Point Therapeutics Inc., as well as an expansion of its oncology partnership with Bridgebio Pharma Inc. to the tune of $905 million.

Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. signed an exclusive licensing deal with Organon LLC under which Organon will in-license rights for two of Henlius’ internally developed biosimilar candidates for global commercialization, excluding China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.