Modalis Therapeutics Corp. – previously Edigene Corp. – has regained full rights to two gene therapy candidates for muscle disorders, MDL-201 and MDL-202, that were co-developed with Astellas Pharmaceutical Inc. since 2019.
Med-tech deal values the first seven months of the year are up more than 50% from last year. Meanwhile, M&As decreased almost 70% from the same time period in 2022.
Harmony Biosciences Holdings Inc.’s agreement to acquire Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $60 million cash plus as much as $140 million in contingent value rights (CVRs) didn’t register as one of the larger potential outlays recently, but Wall Street had questions about the term sheet just the same. Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Harmony is paying about $1.10 per share in cash for Zynerba, of Devon, Pa., plus one non-tradeable CVR tied to clinical, regulatory and sales milestones.
The June dip in biopharma deal value was short-lived, with July seeing 106 deals worth $17.57 billion, up 72.03% from $10.22 billion in July 2022. In the first seven months of 2023, 778 deals were completed worth $105.39 billion, compared to 995 deals worth $105.9 billion in the same period last year, a decrease of 0.48% by value and a decrease of 21.8% by volume. The same timeframe in 2021 saw 1,240 deals valued at $107 billion, 1,228 deals worth $112.23 billion in 2020, and 963 deals totaling $93.39 billion in 2019.
Building out its metabolic franchise, Novo Nordisk A/S is buying privately held Montreal-based Inversago Pharma Inc. for up to $1.075 billion, gaining lead asset INV-202, an oral cannabinoid 1 (CB1) inverse agonist. The candidate has demonstrated weight loss potential in a phase Ib trial and is currently in a phase II for diabetic kidney disease. Novo Nordisk’s interest in INV-202 is to explore its potential for obesity and obesity-related complications.
Modalis Therapeutics Corp. – previously Edigene Corp. – has regained full rights to two gene therapy candidates for muscle disorders, MDL-201 and MDL-202, that were co-developed with Astellas Pharmaceutical Inc. since 2019.
Novavax Inc. has signed off 6.5 million shares to SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. for an $85 million equity investment from the South Korean pharmaceutical firm, which also wrote off some of Novavax’s manufacturing liabilities, as part of their continuing vaccine alliance. Seongnam-si, South Korea-based SK Bioscience purchased Novavax shares at $13 each, reflecting a 59% premium over the 90-day trading value, to gain a 6.45% stake in the Gaithersburg, Md.-based mRNA vaccine company, an SK Bioscience spokesperson confirmed to BioWorld.
Novavax Inc. has signed off 6.5 million shares to SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. for an $85 million equity investment from the South Korean pharmaceutical firm, which also wrote off some of Novavax’s manufacturing liabilities, as part of their continuing vaccine alliance. Seongnam-si, South Korea-based SK Bioscience purchased Novavax shares at $13 each, reflecting a 59% premium over the 90-day trading value, to gain a 6.45% stake in the Gaithersburg, Md.-based mRNA vaccine company, an SK Bioscience spokesperson confirmed to BioWorld.
Six years of collaboration is ending in a buyout, as Decibel Therapeutics Inc. agreed to be acquired by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal valued at up to $213 million, including $109 million in equity, with additional payments via contingent value rights linked to clinical and regulatory milestones for DB-OTO, the lead gene therapy program targeting hearing loss.
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