Sana Biotechnology Inc. has outlined the status of its pipeline following a portfolio prioritization. The company remains on track to file an IND this year for SC-291, the company's HIP-modified, CD19-targeted allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapy, with initial clinical data expected next year.
Sana Biotechnology Inc. has acquired rights to two CAR T constructs through a pair of deals, one with partners Innovent Biologics Inc. and Iaso Biotherapeutics Co. Ltd. and a second with the U.S.-based National Cancer Institute (NCI). In the Innovent-Iaso deal, Sana secured nonexclusive commercial rights to a B-cell maturation antigen-targeted CAR T construct for in vivo gene therapy and ex vivo hypoimmune cell therapy applications. The NCI deal, for exclusive commercial rights to the NCI’s CD22 CAR asset, could help Sana “address key relapse challenges for CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapies,” the company said.
The top 100 public biopharmaceutical companies with market caps greater than $1 billion, and excluding big pharma companies, spent a total of almost $12 billion on R&D in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $9.4 billion invested last year. A BioWorld analysis of the quarterly filings of this group found that the 24% year-over-year increase in spending was driven, in part, by companies involved in developing COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
The top 100 public biopharmaceutical companies with market caps greater than $1 billion, and excluding big pharma companies, spent a total of almost $12 billion on R&D in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $9.4 billion invested last year.
With the massive amounts of capital raised by global public and private biopharmaceutical companies last year generating approximately $134 billion – a total that was almost double the previous record of about $69 billion raised in 2015 – it is not surprising that financing for the regenerative medicine and advanced therapy sector also set an annual record.
Of the three companies launching IPOs Feb. 4, one struggled mightily, another posted double-digit gains while the third ended the day flat. Shares of Landos Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:LABP) dropped 25%, to $12 each, on their first day of trading. Sana Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:SANA) had the strongest first day of trading as shares closed 40.4% higher at the close at $35.10. Sensei Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSE) saw its IPO launch roughly break even on its first day of trading, closing with only a half-point gain at $18.90.
A decade from now, 2020 likely will be considered a year like no other in terms of the massive amounts of capital raised amid a raging pandemic. Financing transactions of all types smashed records and in terms of volume hit 1,580, a total that was 42% higher than last year.
A decade from now, 2020 likely will be considered a year like no other in terms of the massive amounts of capital raised amid a raging pandemic. Financing transactions of all types smashed records and in terms of volume hit 1,580, a total that was 42% higher than last year despite the serious disruptions to normal business operations.
A first half of the year progress report from the international advocacy group Alliance for Regenerative Medicine finds that the regenerative medicine and advanced therapy sector is in very good shape and has performed well in terms of both clinical development and fundraising.
A first half of the year progress report from the international advocacy group Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), finds that the regenerative medicine and advanced therapy sector is in very good shape and has performed well in terms of both clinical development and fundraising despite the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
