Modifi Biosciences Inc. has come a long way very quickly. Spun out of Yale University in 2021, it published data on DNA in Science in July 2022, and now it’s being acquired by Merck & Co. Inc. for $30 million up front. Ultimately, Modifi shareholders could receive milestones of up to $1.3 billion.
Siga Technologies Inc. has entered into an agreement with Vanderbilt University to obtain a license to a portfolio of preclinical fully human monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) which could be used as potential treatments for a broad range of orthopoxviruses, including smallpox and mpox.
Keybioscience AG and Eli Lilly & Co. have agreed to extend their collaboration on the development of dual amylin and calcitonin receptor agonists (DACRAs), a new class of potential treatments for obesity and related disorders.
Insitro Inc. has signed three strategic agreements with Eli Lilly & Co. focused on advancing potential new medicines for metabolic diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), based on targets identified by Insitro using its artificial intelligence/machine learning-based platform.
Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has entered into a license agreement with Ligachem Biosciences Inc. for LCB-97, a preclinical stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for solid tumors.
In the year’s fourth-largest deal, Prime Medicine Inc. will collaborate with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in a research collaboration and license agreement totaling $3.61 billion. The two companies plan to develop reagents for ex vivo T-cell therapies. While the programs and targets have yet to be disclosed, BMS is expanding its CAR T development, begun more than five years ago, with this deal.
Spima Therapeutics SAS has announced its launch with a focus on developing innovative peptide-based immunotherapies for difficult-to-reach targets, especially protein-protein interactions.
Prime Medicine Inc. has announced its plans to strategically focus its efforts on a set of high value programs as it advances its pipeline of next-generation gene editing therapies.
Novartis AG is enlisting the help of Generate:Biomedicines Inc. and its artificial intelligence platform to generate drugs for multiple undisclosed targets. The number of targets and therapeutic areas also weren’t disclosed. Novartis will pick the targets, although the targets Generate has been working on are off limits. Generate will be responsible for creating the lead candidate, at which point Novartis will take over development.
Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners (DDP) Inc. has entered into a strategic research and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly & Co. for multiple drug discovery programs.