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.
Astrazeneca plc has announced two significant R&D deals with Scorpion Therapeutics Inc. and Benevolentai Ltd., which it hopes will sharpen its research into cancer, lupus and heart failure. Both of the deals involve artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to increase the probability of success during the clinical development process and reduce the chances of costly trial failures.
The value of biopharma deals in 2021 rose above the prior year’s record by about 8%, thanks to an increasing number of high-money transactions. Mergers and acquisitions, however, fell 32% below 2020 as the industry gravitated more toward financings.
Targeting the toxic alpha-synuclein protein found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s is one of the most promising approaches to treat the disease in the clinic – but getting any drug into the brain is a challenge. Sanofi SA has joined with ABL Bio Inc. to solve this problem, in-licensing ABL-301, a preclinical bispecific antibody that locks on to misfolded alpha-synuclein but also includes a molecular “shuttle” that allows it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
Barely two weeks into the year, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. has already locked down an out-licensing deal and an in-licensing agreement. In a follow-up to their $1.1 billion deal a year ago, Coherus Biosciences Inc. has moved ahead with the right to exercise its option to license Junshi’s JS-006, a recombinant humanized IgG4k monoclonal antibody targeting T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain protein (TIGIT). Separately, Junshi has in-licensed antibody “modules,” or Dotbodies, from Dotbio Pte. Ltd. for use in oncology and the development of several multispecific antibodies.
Merck & Co. Inc., building on a year-old deal with Aligos Therapeutics Inc., has moved to in-license an early stage nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) oligonucleotide program Aligos had previously advanced independently. The amended deal also gives Merck the right to add a new NASH target to the partnership, in addition to those already part of the agreement. With Aligos eligible to receive up to $460 million in development and commercialization milestones as well as tiered royalties on net sales per target, its rewards could reach $1.38 billion.
The deals continued to flow during day two of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Privately held Arrakis Inc., which specializes in aiming at small-molecule RNA targets, primarily cancers, has signed onto a collaboration with Amgen Inc. that could bring in billions in future payments should it hit all the milestones and program options are exercised. Dren Bio Inc., meanwhile, will collaborate with Pfizer Inc. to develop bispecific antibodies for oncology targets. Dren could receive more than $1 billion in the deal that includes a $25 million in cash up-front payment from Pfizer.
Prism Biolab Co. Ltd. has added Genentech Inc., a unit of Roche Holding AG, to the list of users for its peptide mimetic small-molecules library after signing a multitarget research collaboration and licensing agreement. Under the agreement, Tokyo-based Prism Biolab will open its Pepmetics Library, a library of peptide mimetic small molecules, to screen against targets selected by Roche and Genentech.
Inveniai LLC and Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. have expanded their partnership a second time, inking their most recent multiple drug discovery agreement. The multiyear deal will see the duo discover novel targets and treatments for therapeutic areas across Kyowa Kirin’s portfolio and areas of interest using Inveniai’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
A raft of potentially high-value drug development collaborations, most for gene and RNA therapies, led the first day of the 40th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Monday. Pfizer Inc. enlisted Beam Therapeutic Inc. to advance in vivo base editing programs for up to $1.35 billion, while Bayer AG tapped Mammoth Biosciences Inc.’s in vivo CRISPR systems expertise in a potential $1 billion-plus deal. Selecta Biosciences Inc. inked a new $1.1 billion partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks Inc. to develop next-generation gene therapy capsids, while Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to pay Stoke Therapeutics Inc. as much as $967 million to develop RNA-based medicines. Work on new mRNA vaccines and therapies is also proceeding, with both Pfizer and Biontech SE announcing new collaborations in the space.
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