The landscape of biopharma deals and M&As has seen a transformative shift, with a year-over-year drop in transaction numbers while value has increased. Overall, biopharma deals saw an uptick in value of nearly 6%, and biopharma M&As concurrently soared 80% higher in value than the previous year.
U.S. biopharma Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc. handed off China rights of lasofoxifene, an oral endocrine therapy in development for breast cancer, to Shanghai’s Henlius Biotech Inc., for an undisclosed up-front payment and up to $58 million in milestone fees.
U.S. biopharma Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc. handed off China rights of lasofoxifene, an oral endocrine therapy in development for breast cancer, to Shanghai’s Henlius Biotech Inc., for an undisclosed up-front payment and up to $58 million in milestone fees.
Ultromics Ltd. joined forces with Pfizer Inc. to expedite U.S. FDA clearance of its artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced platform to aid early diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis, also known as stiff heart syndrome. The company received FDA breakthrough device designation last year for Echogo Amyloidosis, which uses deep AI to analyze echocardiograms and detect the presence of cardiac amyloidosis, a serious condition often missed during standard heart assessments.
Pharma-biotech pairings continued apace in the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space, with 2023 capped by Legochem Biosciences Inc. signing a $1.7 billion licensure deal with Johnson & Johnson arm Janssen Biotech Inc. for the former’s Trop2-directed compound, the second-biggest Korean technology transfer agreement.
Pfizer Inc. proved its ongoing interest in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), as well as at least tentative faith in mesothelin as a target, by snatching up Nona Biosciences Inc. for up to $53 million in up-front and near-term cash along with possibly $1.05 billion in milestone payments as the drug advances.
The Nobel Prize-winning modification that prevents the innate immune system from recognizing injected mRNA as foreign and blocking transcription of the protein it encodes has been found on some occasions to cause ribosomal frameshifting.
While early stage and involving a relatively small patient population, the interim phase Ib readout from the combination cohort testing estrogen receptor (ER)-targeting candidate vepdegestrant in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitor Ibrance (palbociclib) in heavily pretreated patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer was impressive enough to prompt partners Arvinas Inc. and Pfizer Inc. to expand development work on the program. The results also struck a chord on the Street, with shares of Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN) gaining 31% on the day.
Altimmune Inc.’s peptide-based glucagon-like peptide-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist pemvidutide hiccupped in a phase I study earlier this year but has bounced back with top-line results from its phase II study in obesity. Results showed robust reductions in body mass index and serum lipids, along with improvements in blood pressure with no imbalances in cardiac events, arrhythmias or clinically meaningful increases in heart rate. The data showed liver-fat loss similar to Novo Nordisk A/S’ GLP-1 drug Wegovy (semaglutide).
With U.S. drug prices a perennial issue, several lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, are increasingly looking beyond biopharma to identify other “persons of interest” that may be complicit in the high list prices facing American patients.
