Radnet Inc. acquired Gleamer SAS for up to €230 million (US$267 million) as it continues to expand its position across imaging and acute diagnostic care, while accelerating its move toward AI-powered automated diagnostics. Gleamer will be integrated into Radnet’s subsidiary, Deephealth Inc., strengthening its imaging portfolio, and positioning the company as the world’s largest provider of radiology clinical AI solutions.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH is stopping development of OSE Immunotherapeutics SA’s BI-770371 in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), after the SIRPα antagonist failed to show efficacy in a phase II study. Codevelopment of BI-770371 will continue for oncology indications, however, which was the initial target of the duo’s €1.4 billion (US$1.6 million) partnership in 2018.
At Biocom’s Global Partnering and Investor Conference, representatives from the business development departments at various pharmaceutical companies provided an update on their appetites for deals. The mood was fairly upbeat because, let’s face it, large pharma has become dependent on external development.
In an all-cash transaction valued at €780 million (US$920 million), Asahi Kasei Corp. offered to buy Aicuris Anti-infective Cures AG, expanding its infectious disease portfolio with a marketed cytomegalovirus product and a herpes treatment nearing an NDA.
GSK plc will pay Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. $40 million up front and up to $963 million in milestone payments to license two of Frontier’s small interfering RNA-based assets in the field of immunology.
GSK plc is paying $950 million cash to acquire 100% of 35Pharma Inc.’s equity and pipeline, including phase II-ready candidate HS-235 for pulmonary hypertension. The acquisition agreement comes a day after GSK added two small interfering RNA assets from Nanjing, China-based Frontier Biotechnologies Inc. through a license deal reaching up to $1 billion.
Astellas Pharma Inc. and Vir Biotechnology Inc. have signed a global co-development pact to advance VIR-5500, Vir’s PRO-XTEN dual-masked CD3 T-cell engager targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen for treating prostate cancer. Under the deal terms, San Francisco-based Vir will receive $335 million in up-front and near-term payments, including $240 million in cash, $75 million in equity investment and a $20 million near-term milestone. Vir is also eligible to receive up to $1.37 billion in development, regulatory and sales-based milestones plus royalties on ex-U.S. sales.
Gilead Sciences is stepping deeper into synthetic lethality, licensing a clinic-ready MAT2A (methionine adenosyltransferase 2a) inhibitor from Suzhou, China-based Genhouse Bio Co. Ltd. in a deal worth up to $1.53 billion.
Harbour Biomed is spinning out newco Solstice Oncology and is outlicensing its CTLA-4 antibody, porustobart (HBM-4003), to the newco in a cash and equity deal worth more than $1.2 billion.