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.
DUBLIN – Blueprint Medicines Corp. is banking $775 million, including $675 million up front and another $100 million as an equity investment, from a co-commercialization deal with Roche Holding AG and its Genentech subsidiary involving RET inhibitor pralsetinib. The deal also includes up to $927 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, $90 million of which are described as “near-term,” plus tiered royalties on ex-U.S. sales, ranging from the high-teens to mid-twenties.
BEIJING – Besides advancing its neutralizing antibodies for COVID-19, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. is aiming to expand its pipeline. On July 13, it entered a collaboration with Revitope Oncology Inc.
The industry's expanding quest for protein degraders grew a little larger on July 9 with Sanofi SA tapping Kymera Therapeutics Inc. to advance two new protein degrader programs, one of which will target IRAK4 in patients with immune-inflammatory diseases and another for an undisclosed target. Each program could yield multiple therapies.
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