Merck & Co. Inc. is paying $1.85 billion, or $60 per share, to acquire Pandion Therapeutics Inc. on the back of early stage data in human volunteers for its lead program, PT-101, an engineered interleukin-2 mutein fused to an Fc backbone, which is designed to stimulate targeted expansion of regulatory T cells for use in autoimmune disease indications.
Gilead Sciences Inc. was looking to get into oncology in a big way. Arcus Biosciences Inc. had a pipeline of cancer drugs it didn't want to break up. While a little unusual, the landmark 10-year pact the companies made last year just made sense, company executives explained during a session at Biocom California's Global Life Science Partnering Conference.
Gene therapy developer Beam Therapeutics Inc. has acquired drug delivery specialist Guide Therapeutics Inc. in a deal valued at up to $440 million, adding yet another piece of the integrated platform CEO John Evans told BioWorld the company is striving to build. Guide's lipid nanoparticle (LNP) screening technology could help medicines developed by Beam and its partners reach new targets beyond the liver, an increasingly important endeavor for gene therapy developers like Beam, seeking to maximize the breadth of their growing portfolios. Terms of the deal included $120 million up front, plus up to $320 million in stock-based technology and product success milestone payments. Shares in Beam (NASDAQ:BEAM) fell 12.6% to $96.48 on Feb. 23.
News of Vaccinex Inc. signing two multitarget deals with undisclosed "prominent pharmaceutical companies" sent company shares (NASDAQ:VCNX) up 70% to $4.88 on Feb. 19, even as financial terms of the deal went undisclosed. The collaborations will focus on using the company's ActivMAb antibody discovery and novel viral display platform to develop candidates against complex antigens such as G protein-coupled receptors and ion channels, the company said.
HONG KONG – Beijing-based Beigene Ltd. struck its second deal outside China this year, signing an option and license agreement with Boston Immune Technologies & Therapeutics Inc. (BITT) for the latter’s tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) antagonist antibodies. Beigene will exclusively develop, manufacture and commercialize BITT’s TNFR2 antagonist antibodies in Asia, excepting Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
HONG KONG – Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. picked up the greater China rights to Scynexis Inc.’s lead candidate, ibrexafungerp. Under the terms, Hansoh will take charge of the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of the antifungal in the region in exchange for a $10 million up- front payment and as much as $112 million in development and commercial milestones, plus low double-digit royalties on net product sales.
HONG KONG – Ferring Pharmaceuticals’ microbiome-focused subsidiary Rebiotix Inc. and Mybiotics Pharma Ltd. have agreed to a multiyear strategic collaboration to develop live microbiota-based biotherapeutics to address bacterial vaginosis (BV). The companies did not disclose the financials of the deal.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. cut the biggest deal of the company’s life with its new collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. that could be worth $960 million. The two will co-develop and commercialize Rigel’s R-552, a receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) inhibitor, for all indications including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Francesco de Rubertis, a co-founder of Medicixi Ventures, has unveiled the next generation of the venture-backed asset-centric biopharma model with the creation of Centessa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The new company was created by acquiring, in all-share transactions, total control of 10 companies from the Medicxi portfolio.
DUBLIN – Cellectis SA is picking up $15 million worth of equity in Cytovia Therapeutics Inc. and could earn as much as $760 million in development, regulatory and sales milestones from a deal involving up to five gene-edited allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-NK) cell therapies employing its Talen (transcription activator-like effector nuclease) gene editing technology.
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