LONDON – Mission Therapeutics Ltd. has honed down a collection of 100-odd deubiquitylating (DUB) enzymes, to identify two that degrade misfolded proteins in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, triggering a $20 million milestone from partner Abbvie Inc.
Tobacco firm Philip Morris International Inc. has announced another acquisition as it adopts a “beyond nicotine” strategy, snapping up Otitopic Inc., of Los Angeles, for an undisclosed sum.
Seagen Inc. and Remegen Co. Ltd. will collaborate to exclusively develop and commercialize disitamab vedotin, a humanized antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting HER2, giving Remegen the chance to earn up to $2.4 billion in total milestone payments.
Eqrx Inc., a startup co-founded by serial biotech entrepreneur and investor Alexis Borisy to deliver new medicines for cancer and other conditions at "radically lower prices," is poised to raise up to $1.8 billion via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) CM Life Sciences III Inc. The transaction, which would bring Eqrx to Nasdaq, includes a fully committed and upsized PIPE of $1.2 billion led by Softbank Group's SB Management Ltd. as well as SPAC sponsors Casdin Capital LLC and Corvex Management LP, plus $550 million of cash and trust held by the SPAC itself.
Medtronic plc reported it will acquire Intersect ENT, a deal that represents a major expansion of Medtronic’s footprint in the ear/nose/throat (ENT) space. Intersect’s products for chronic rhinosinusitis will give Medtronic access to a medical market said to be among the top 10 most expensive conditions for employers, with a potential patient population of 35 million in the U.S. alone.
Sierra Oncology Inc. has swooped in on an early stage BET inhibitor from Astrazeneca plc, paying just $8 million up front for the myelofibrosis drug – a price that raises questions about the $1.7 billion Morphosys AG stumped up to buy Constellation Pharmaceuticals and its class rival.
A little over a month after Versant Ventures-back Vividion Therapeutics Inc. filed to raise $100 million in an IPO, Bayer AG is paying $1.5 billion up front, with the promise of $500 million more in milestone payments, to take over the firm and its small-molecule precision oncology and immunology platform.
Schrödinger Inc. has paired up with Zai Lab Ltd. to collaborate on an oncology program targeting DNA damage response (DDR) in a deal that could net Schrödinger up to $338 million.
Burning Rock Biotech Ltd. has formed a global strategic partnership with Impact Therapeutics Inc. to develop companion diagnostics for a pipeline of drugs in the field of synthetic lethality.