BioWorld’s three-part analysis of M&As sought to discover successful transactions and to understand the trend of multibillion-dollar deals that have become commonplace in the last decade. Instead, more than 80% of the acquisitions explored simply indicate that buyers are paying too much, suggesting that transactions meant to restore pipelines and revenues with innovative and marketed products are sometimes akin to high-stakes gambling. In part three, the final part of this series, we examine four more disappointments in which the return on investment (ROI) remains well behind the price paid in acquiring the company.
The curtain is coming down on one of Europe’s longest-established biopharmas, with Novartis AG announcing it is to shut Morphosys AG’s facilities, following its 2024 acquisition of the one-time antibody pioneer for $2.9 billion. The closure of sites in the U.S. and Germany by the end of 2025 will affect 330 employees.
More than 30 years after entering the scene as a first-generation monoclonal antibody pioneer, Morphosys AG is to be acquired by Novartis AG for €2.7 billion (US$2.9 billion). The all-cash deal, announced after Nasdaq closed on Feb. 5, will see Novartis paying €68 per share, a premium of 94% to the average daily price in the month leading up to Jan. 25, when rumors of a takeover started swirling.
Morphosys AG’s rare blood cancer treatment hit its phase III primary endpoint but missed statistical significance on a secondary endpoint, sinking the stock for the day. Top-line data from the study treating JAK inhibitor-naïve patients who have the rare blood cancer myelofibrosis showed the combination of pelabresib, a BET inhibitor, and the JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib produced a statistically significant improvement in spleen volume reduction, which was the primary endpoint.
By the end of this year, it will become apparent whether Morphosys AG has executed one of the biotechnology industry’s boldest pivots in recent years or has instead blown $1.7 billion of investor cash on a dud. The day of reckoning is coming a little sooner than expected for the Planegg, Germany-based firm, as it has completed recruitment in a phase III trial of pelabresib in first-line myelofibrosis ahead of schedule. Top-line data from the study are now expected before year-end, instead of early 2024.
For European biotech, the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 could hardly be described as the best of times – but the period did not represent the worst of times either. European firms engaged in drug discovery and development collectively raised $1.88 billion during this period. The tally is 4% less than the total raised in the comparable period last year, and it represents just 32% of the total raised during the COVID-19-fueled biotech boom during 2021. But it’s still the third highest Q1 raise during the last six years.
Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio) Inc., a company developing targeted therapies for severe immune-mediated diseases, has secured $120 million in financing. Its initial pipeline is built around two clinical-stage immunology assets in-licensed from Morphosys AG in June 2022. The funds will help the company move through key inflection points over the coming years, in both in its ongoing clinical and discovery programs, where it's currently focused on the role of mast cells as a cellular driver of disease.
Innocare Pharma Ltd. has signed a licensing agreement with Incyte Corp. for the exclusive rights to the monoclonal antibody Monjuvi (tafasitamab) for hematology and oncology indications in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Under the terms of the deal, Innocare will pay Incyte an up-front fee of $35 million, as well as up to $82.5 million in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties.
DUBLIN – In a busy week at the EMA, its Committee on Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) nodded through eight marketing applications at its June meeting. The haul included a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy, three antibodies, including a biosimilar, and two new small-molecule drugs, as well as two generics.
LONDON – Morphosys AG finally has some heft to put behind its U.S. commercialization ambitions following FDA approval for its long-nurtured anti-CD19 antibody, Monjuvi (tafasitamab-cxix) in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (r/rDLBCL).
