Targeting the toxic alpha-synuclein protein found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s is one of the most promising approaches to treat the disease in the clinic – but getting any drug into the brain is a challenge. Sanofi SA has joined with ABL Bio Inc. to solve this problem, in-licensing ABL-301, a preclinical bispecific antibody that locks on to misfolded alpha-synuclein but also includes a molecular “shuttle” that allows it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
Shanghai-based Everest Medicines Ltd. has won exclusive global rights to a set of viral 3C-like (3CL) protease inhibitors from Singapore's national drug discovery platform, the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), in a deal worth up to $214.5 million.
SCG Cell Therapy Pte. Ltd. has acquired rights to human induced pluripotent stem cell technology from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)’s Accelerate Technologies Pte. Ltd. to support the development of natural killer (NK) cell therapies for leukemia, liver cancer, gastric cancer and other solid tumors.
3Sbio Inc.’s subsidiary, Sunshine Guojian Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., has licensed out the global rights of its anti-PD-1 antibody candidate, 609-A, to Florida-based Syncromune Inc. in a deal the company said is worth up to “hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.”
Prism Biolab Co. Ltd. has added Genentech Inc., a unit of Roche Holding AG, to the list of users for its peptide mimetic small-molecules library after signing a multitarget research collaboration and licensing agreement.
Inveniai LLC and Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. have expanded their partnership a second time, inking their most recent multiple drug discovery agreement. The multiyear deal will see the duo discover novel targets and treatments for therapeutic areas across Kyowa Kirin’s portfolio and areas of interest using Inveniai’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
Sperogenix Therapeutics Ltd. has acquired exclusive greater China rights to Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG’s glucocorticoid analogue vamorolone in a deal worth up to $124 million.
Barely two weeks into the year, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. has already locked down an out-licensing deal and an in-licensing agreement. In a follow-up to their $1.1 billion deal a year ago, Coherus Biosciences Inc. has moved ahead with the right to exercise its option to license Junshi’s JS-006, a recombinant humanized IgG4k monoclonal antibody targeting T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain protein (TIGIT). Separately, Junshi has in-licensed antibody “modules,” or Dotbodies, from Dotbio Pte. Ltd. for use in oncology and the development of several multispecific antibodies.
RTW Investments LP-backed Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has acquired greater China rights to Cytokinetics Inc.’s omecamtiv mecarbil in a deal worth up to $400 million.
DUBLIN – ITM Isotope Technologies Munich (ITM) SE has secured its first radiopharmaceutical licensing deal in China, a pact with Grand Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. involving two radiopharmaceutical candidates, as well as a companion diagnostic for one of them.