The top two biggest money biopharma deals in 2020 occurred in June, putting the month ahead of all other months for the year in terms of deal values and volumes.
Strata Oncology Inc. has inked an agreement with newcomer Elevation Oncology to ramp up patient identification and enrollment for the latter’s phase II CRESTONE study evaluating the use of seribantumab in patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors of any origin that have a neuregulin-1 (NRG1) gene fusion.
HONG KONG – Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc. is gaining access to the “library of libraries,” inking an agreement with Twist Bioscience Corp. in one of the Osaka, Japan-based firm’s recent efforts to build a sustained innovative R&D growth engine.
Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc. and Myokardia Inc. agreed to discover, develop and commercialize therapies for treating genetic cardiomyopathies, a deal spun out of two companies with a mutual appreciation of each other’s abilities as well as personal relations and networking, Fulcrum’s CEO told BioWorld.
DUBLIN – Roche Holding AG has joined Jnana Therapeutics Inc. in its quest to drug the human repertoire of solute carrier (SLC) metabolite transporters as a means of tackling a swath of immune-mediated and neurological diseases. The Basel, Switzerland-based pharma is paying Boston-based Jnana $40 million up front and could pay over $1 billion more in research funding, preclinical, development and commercial milestones, as well as sales royalties, in a multitarget deal.
The two-year standstill provision in Assembly Biosciences Inc.’s potential $540 million pact with Beigene Ltd. to advance hepatitis B virus (HBV) therapies was “highly negotiated,” said Jason Okazaki, Assembly’s chief legal and business officer.
LONDON – Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK) is putting £130 million (US$164.3 million) into one of the leading COVID-19 vaccines developers, Curevac AG, acquiring a 10% stake, and will also invest £104 million cash up front to fund research and development of the company’s mRNA vaccines.
Novocure Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. will work together to test the use of electric fields at specific frequencies in combination with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The pair plan to start a phase II pilot study during the second half of Novocure’s Tumor Treating Fields in combination with Keytruda as a first-line treatment for intrathoracic advanced or metastatic, PD-L1 positive NSCLC.
BEIJING – U.S.-Taiwan biotech Acepodia Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., and Taipei, has licensed out two of its cell therapy candidates, ACE-1702 and ACE-1655, to Chinese CAR T therapy developer JW Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. to develop and commercialize them in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Acepodia will receive up-front and milestone payments from JW Therapeutics, plus royalties on sales.
Cytokinetics Inc.’s new deal with RTW Investments gives the company a new presence in Asia and a strong influx of cash that should last at least two or three years.
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