Seeking to rejuvenate itself after recent disappointments, Gilead Sciences Inc. proposes to bolster its liver portfolio by taking over Cymabay Therapeutics Inc. for $32.50 per share in cash, a total equity value of $4.3 billion. The arrangement brings aboard seladelpar for second-line primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) including pruritis (itch), which is under priority review by the U.S. FDA, with a decision due this year.
Biopharma deals in January reached $26.97 billion, marking the sixth-highest month in BioWorld’s records going back to 2016. It is an increase of nearly 25% from the $21.64 billion in deals in January 2023 and also is up from December. Value the first month of the year is more than 2023’s average monthly value of $18.14 billion, and likewise more than the average monthly value of any previous year.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bridgebio Pharma Inc. will hand over development and sales of its rare bone growth disorder therapy, infigratinib, in Japan to Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. under its latest exclusive licensing deal.
Autolus Therapeutics Inc. has picked up plenty of financial momentum, about $600 million worth, in its runup to a November 2024 PDUFA date for its CD19 CAR T therapy. Helping propel that momentum is Biontech SE, another CAR T therapy developer. For $50 million cash, Biontech bought the rights to use Autolus’ manufacturing and commercial infrastructure in the U.K. so it can advance its CAR T-cell BNT-211 program in the clinic.
Immunome Inc. gained renewed attention for its pipeline by way of the Feb. 6 deal to buy from Ayala Pharmaceuticals Inc. the phase III-stage small-molecule gamma secretase inhibitor AL-102 (plus related drug candidate AL-101).
Redx Pharma plc has closed its biggest transaction to date, selling a preclinical KRAS inhibitor program to Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc in a potential $880 million deal. Of that, $10 million will be paid up front, with the balance to come in development and commercialization milestones. For any product that makes it to market, Redx will in addition receive tiered mid-single digit percentage royalties.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. have inked a global development and commercialization deal worth up to $1.7 billion for Protagonist’s rusfertide for treatment of polycythemia vera (PV), a rare and chronic blood disorder affecting bone marrow.
More than 30 years after entering the scene as a first-generation monoclonal antibody pioneer, Morphosys AG is to be acquired by Novartis AG for €2.7 billion (US$2.9 billion). The all-cash deal, announced after Nasdaq closed on Feb. 5, will see Novartis paying €68 per share, a premium of 94% to the average daily price in the month leading up to Jan. 25, when rumors of a takeover started swirling.
As Novo Nordisk A/S has struggled with supply of its GLP-1 drug Wegovy (semaglutide), its controlling shareholder, Novo Holdings A/S, has agreed to acquire global contract development and manufacturing organization Catalent Inc. and its more than 50 global sites for $63.50 per share in cash, about $16.5 billion.
Kiora Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s development and commercialization deal with Théa Open Innovation (TOI), a sister company of Laboratoires Théa, for KIO-301 in degenerative retinal diseases “takes a bit of an industry-standard type of approach” in terms of structure, said CEO Brian Strem.
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