As the number of mega-mergers have increased in recent years, and the purchase price of innovative companies rises, it is apparent that many lucrative buyouts fail to meet expectations, although a few outperform from time to time.
Neomorph Inc. has signed another billion-dollar deal to develop molecular glue degraders, this time with Abbvie Inc. It’s the third agreement in the past year the five-year-old company has signed with big pharma companies in a space with lots of collaborative deals.
Abbvie Inc. and Simcere Zaiming Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. are part of the volley of large deals accompanying the opening of the 43rd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The two have agreed to develop SIM-0500, a humanized GPRC5D-BCMA-CD3 trispecific antibody, which is in phase I studies in the U.S. and China to treat refractory multiple myeloma.
Abbvie Inc. and Simcere Zaiming Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. are part of the volley of large deals accompanying the opening of the 43rd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The two have agreed to develop SIM-0500, a humanized GPRC5D-BCMA-CD3 trispecific antibody, which is in phase I studies in the U.S. and China to treat refractory multiple myeloma.
It’s taken nearly a decade for the U.S. FDA to go from zero to 60 in approving biosimilars. Currently, 63 biosimilars have been approved in the U.S., thanks to 18 new approvals in 2024 that stretched the number of biologics referenced by biosimilars from 14 to 17. That’s an all-time record, CDER Director Patrizia Cavazzoni said, as she released the drug center’s annual approval report for 2024.
It was in with the new and out with the old Jan. 3 as the gavel came down on the first session of the 119th U.S. Congress. Although Republicans will control both the House and Senate for the next two years, their narrow majority could prove a challenge to passing some of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, including his proposal to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% for companies that manufacture their products in the U.S.
The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index (BBI) closed November with a modest 3.58% gain for the year, a sharp decline from its 16.92% rise in September and peak of 25.19% in August. The BBI has now fallen behind the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which posted a 6.27% year-to-date gain, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 19.16% at the end of the month.
At the 66th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, a plethora of companies presented clinical trial data highlighting their drugs targeting Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) in patients with blood cancers.
IL-23 receptor antagonist icotrokinra hit co-primary phase III endpoints in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, positioning the oral peptide at the forefront of a multibillion-dollar franchise for partners Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.
Abbvie Inc.’s much-hyped emraclidine, the centerpiece of its $8.7 billion buyout of Cerevel Therapeutics Inc., failed to hit its endpoints in two phase II trials in schizophrenia, sending company shares (NYSE:ABBV) down more than 12.6%, to close at 174.43, catching industry watchers by surprise and removing a potentially near-term competitor for Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s recently approved antipsychotic, Cobenfy (xanomeline-trospium).
