HONG KONG – Two Chinese biotech companies, Hutchison China Meditech Ltd. (Chi-Med) and Beigene Ltd., are teaming up to evaluate their therapies as combination treatments for several cancers and in different key markets.
Accent Therapeutics Inc. will receive $55 million up front and as much as $1.1 billion in milestones as part of a substantial new three-molecule deal with Astrazeneca plc, which committed to exploring what Astrazeneca’s oncology chief, José Baselga, called the "compelling" field of targeting RNA-modifying proteins (RMPs) for the treatment of cancer.
HONG KONG – China’s Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. has struck a deal with Merck KGaA for a clinical trial program in China to investigate the efficacy and safety of Junshi’s anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (MAb), Tuoyi (toripalimab) in combination with Merck’s Erbitux (cetuximab) as a treatment for recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN).
BEIJING – Five-year-old Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Beijing, has found itself a strong global partner to help advance its two SHP2 inhibitors, JAB-3068 and JAB-3312, both financially and later in the regulatory process. The Chinese startup will work with pharma giant Abbvie Inc., of North Chicago, to develop and commercialize the programs.
Aduro Biotech Inc. and privately held Chinook Therapeutics Inc., will merge to focus mainly on kidney diseases. Two complementary drugs are involved in the deal.
In a deal potentially worth $3 billion, privately held Repare Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Montreal, entered a research collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) to identify synthetic lethal precision oncology targets for drug candidates.
SUZHOU, China – Genome editing startup Edigene Inc. and CAR T developer Immunochina Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., both from Beijing, have unveiled joint efforts to develop an allogeneic CAR T therapy for cancer. Terms remain undisclosed.
Arcus Biosciences Inc. “brings the milk without [Gilead Sciences Inc.] having to buy the whole cow” is the way one analyst characterized the pair’s 10-year cancer immunotherapy deal, which could be worth as much as $2 billion, and some may have detected downside for Arcus, as shares (NYSE:RCUS) closed May 27 at $27.05, down $6.49, or 19%. Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead is paying Arcus, of Hayward, Calif., $175 million up front, shelling out a $200 million equity investment, and pledging potentially $1.6 billion or more in the form of R&D support, opt-in cash and milestone payments.
PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based Prescient Therapeutics Pty Ltd. is poised to develop next-generation CAR T therapies after signing an exclusive global licensing deal with the University of Pennsylvania for a universal immune receptor technology platform.
Vividion Therapeutics Inc. has continued to build its roster of partnerships with a multitarget collaboration deal with Roche Holding AG that could be worth billions.
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