Targeted protein degradation (TPD) specialist Plexium Inc.’s potential $565 million deal with Abbvie Inc. came on the heels of a tie-up with Amgen Inc. in February worth as much as $500 million-plus, as well as an oversubscribed $102 million financing the same month – all of which translates into “optionality, moving forward, to keep our heads down, do the work we’re really good at and continue to watch the market,” said CEO Percival Barretto-Ko.
Cochlear Ltd. will acquire Danish hearing implant company Oticon Medical A/S for AU$170 million (US$121 million) after parent company the Demant Group said it planned to exit its hearing implants business. Cochlear CEO Dig Howitt said that Oticon Medical is expected to add AU$75 to AU$80 million to Sydney-based Cochlear’s annual revenue, although Oticon Medical is currently “loss making.” In 2021, Demant’s hearing Implants saw revenue of $73 million.
Shares in Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose sharply after Pfizer Inc. invested $25 million and struck a deal to catalyze development of the company’s WEE1 inhibitor ZN-c3, an oral drug designed to make cancer cells self-destruct.
Ashvattha Therapeutics Inc. secured $69 million in a series B financing that it said will strengthen its ability to develop hydroxyl dendrimer-based medicines and accelerate efforts to advance its candidates to the clinic.
Within just a few hours, Molecular Partners AG reported both a potential snag in securing emergency use authorization (EUA) for its Darpin antiviral, ensovibep, and the loss of a half-billion-dollar partnership with Amgen Inc. for the phase I-stage 4-1BB-targeting compound MP-0310. While neither update is likely to dampen prospects for the company’s overall Darpin pipeline, the near-term investor disappointment was enough to send shares (NASDAQ:MOLN) closing 37% lower April 27, after dropping to their lowest point since the Zurich, Switzerland-based firm priced its $63.8 million IPO on Nasdaq in June 2021.
South Korean companies Ubix Therapeutics Inc. and SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. are partnering to develop targeted protein degradation cancer therapies.
After failing to meet primary safety and efficacy endpoints in a phase I/II trial for stroke, Teijin Ltd. and JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. have terminated a co-development and Japan licensing agreement to develop JTR-161, an allogeneic regenerative candidate containing dental pulp stem cells.
Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc. inked an exclusive in-license agreement for Shaperon Inc.’s G protein-coupled receptor 19 (GPCR19) agonist, BBT-209, a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Bridge will pay Shaperon ₩2 billion (US$1.63 million) up front. The potential deal value, which includes up-front, milestone, and royalty payments, is ₩30 billion.
Genequantum Healthcare Co. Ltd. will work with Aimedbio Inc. to co-develop an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to treat brain and other cancers, working toward an IND filing in 2023. Aimedbio will focus on antibody development, while Genequantum will work on linker-payload development. “Since we have a plan to market and sell the product globally, we will conduct a phase I clinical trial in the U.S., Australia, South Korea, and China as a priority,” Do-Hyun Nam, founder, chairman, and chief technology officer of Aimedbio, told BioWorld.
Blackrock Neurotech LLC has acquired spatial computing software startup Mindx Corp. to advance full-stack brain-computer interface (BCI) products. As part of the transaction, Mindx’s augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be integrated with Blackrock’s BCI hardware.
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