Novartis AG, an early and active player in bringing gene therapies to market, has agreed to pay Voyager Therapeutics Inc. $54 million up front and up to $1.7 billion in fees and milestone payments for options to license up to five next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids to use as gene therapy vectors for neurological diseases.

Lumithera Inc. has completed the acquisition of Diopsys Inc. to expand its footprint of ocular disease care. Under the terms of the agreement, Pine Brook, N.J.-based Diopsys is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Poulsbo, Wash.-based Lumithera, with its electroretinography technology adding to Lumithera’s photobiomodulation (PBM) Valeda light delivery system for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment.

Less than two years on from its formation, central nervous system diseases specialist Accure Therapeutics SL has landed a $1 billion-plus agreement to out-license the lead program ACT-01, a first-in-class molecule with neuroprotective properties that is in a phase IIa study in acute optic neuritis. Taking on ACT-01 is ophthalmology specialist Oculis SA, which once it has positive data from the phase IIa, intends to expand to broader indications, including glaucoma and geographic atrophy.

The news from Quanterix Corp. has come fast and furiously this week. The company reported that Chairman and CEO Kevin Hrusovsky will step down on April 25 and become executive chairman of the board, while current company President Masoud Toloue will assume the CEO position and join the board of directors. Hrusovsky became CEO in 2014 and Toloue joined Quanterix in June 2021 from Perkinelmer Inc. The company also revealed that it has built on its collaboration with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. for new tools to diagnose, monitor and treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and presented its fiscal 2021 financial results, which showed a 28% increase in total revenue, largely attributable to its neurology segment.

Adagene Inc. has announced a research collaboration with Sanofi SA, to find “masked” monoclonal and bispecific antibodies that are safer than marketed drugs in oncology, in a deal worth up to $2.5 billion plus royalties. San Diego and Suzhou, China-based Adagene will generate masked versions of Sanofi antibodies, taking responsibility for early stage research activities using its Safebody technology. Sanofi will be responsible for later-stage research and all clinical, product development and marketing activities.

Dariohealth Corp. and Sanofi U.S., a subsidiary of Paris-based Sanofi SA, inked a strategic agreement that provides Dario with $30 million to speed commercial adoption of the company’s integrated digital therapeutics platform. The company simultaneously announced definitive agreements with institutional investors to purchase approximately 5,342,013 shares of its common stock at $7.49 per share, a deal that will generate about $40 million for the company.

Biocon Ltd. said its subsidiary Biocon Biologics Ltd. has agreed to buy out partner Viatris Inc., bringing aboard the latter’s biosimilars business, for $3.34 billion.

LONDON – Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Heidelberg Pharma AG has secured a route into Asia and a fresh injection of much-needed capital, in a licensing and equity deal with Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. worth up to €930 million (US$1.1 billion).

Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd.’s wholly owned subsidiary Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has acquired Asia-Pacific rights to two drugs from Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in a deal worth up to $662 million. “This collaboration aims to bring Kiniksa’s therapeutics to patients in the Asia Pacific Region suffering from severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” said Sanj Patel, chairman and CEO of Kiniksa. “The collaboration also provides nondilutive capital, cost-sharing, and resources for clinical trials to accelerate our drug development and commercialization efforts.”

Odeon Therapeutics Inc. has acquired rights to two cancer candidates from Obi Pharma Inc. in a deal worth up to $200 million. The transaction gives Shanghai-based Odeon rights to develop, register, and commercialize the antibody-drug conjugate OBI-999 and a therapeutic cancer vaccine OBI-833 in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.