In a deal worth as much as $600 million, Lanova Medicines Ltd. licensed exclusive global rights to Astrazeneca plc for LM-305, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting GPRC5D, for multiple myeloma (MM). Lanova will receive up-front and near-term payments of up to $55 million and development and commercial milestone payments of up to $545 million, as well as tiered royalties on net sales worldwide.
Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (CBMG) licensed a pair of candidates for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma to Janssen Biotech Inc. for development outside of greater China. The candidates are anti-CD19 and CD20 bispecific CAR T-cell therapy C-CAR039 and anti-CD20 CAR T-cell therapy C-CAR066.
University of Sydney spinout Kinoxis Therapeutics Pty announced a partnership and licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH to develop first-in-class oxytocin-targeting precision psychiatry treatments to improve the quality of life of people living with neuropsychiatric disorders.
Notching another deal in its efforts to extend the global reach of toripalimab, Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. granted Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. rights to develop and commercialize the PD-1 inhibitor in a regional licensing agreement that could be worth as much as $728.3 million.
In the latest deal from the burgeoning antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space, Eisai Co. Ltd. and privately held Bliss Biopharmaceutical (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. reached a development and commercialization agreement that could be worth up to $2 billion. The massive collaboration is the eighth largest so far this year and one of three that involve ADCs in the year’s top 10 deals.
Roche AG acquired global rights to Zion Pharma Ltd.’s lead program, ZN-A-1041, an orally administered selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is designed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and can prevent and treat brain metastases in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has out-licensed its phase I-ready autoimmune disease candidate, DWP-213388, to new spinout company Vitalli Bio in a deal worth up to $477 million.
Astellas Pharma Inc. announced it plans to acquire Iveric Bio Inc. in an all-cash deal in which it will pay $40 per Iveric share for a total equity value of roughly $5.9 billion. “Iveric Bio has promising programs including avacincaptad pegol (Zimura), an important program for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, and capabilities across the entire value chain in the ophthalmology field,” said Naoki Okamura, Astellas’ president and CEO.
Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Ltd. (SNBL) agreed to acquire Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc.as part of a deal worth as much as $220 million that includes rights to the STS-101 migraine drug. Shin Nippon will pay 91 cents in cash per share, as well as a non-tradeable contingent value right worth up to $5.77 per share based on the potential sale, license, or other grant of rights of Satsuma’s migraine drug STS-101.
Despite strong deal activity throughout each of the last two years, the volume and value of partnerships began sliding in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, while M&As continue to trail several other years.