A company launched by Alphabet Inc.’s Deepmind in 2021, Isomorphic Labs Ltd., entered its first biopharmaceutical partnerships to discover small-molecule therapeutics with Eli Lilly and Co. and Novartis AG in deals worth $1.75 billion and $1.24 billion, respectively.
Merck & Co. Inc.’s deal to pay $23 in cash for Harpoon Therapeutics, bringing the equity value to about $680 million, further invigorated the delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) development zone, where Amgen Inc. enjoys a lead with its prospect tarlatamab in the same class. DLL3 is an inhibitor ligand of the Notch pathway associated with tumorigenesis.
The zeal for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a prominent focus for dealmaking in 2023, shows no signs of waning, as Johnson & Johnson greeted attendees of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) with news of its $2 billion buyout of Ambrx Biopharma Inc., picking up rights to an ADC platform along with a promising candidate targeting advanced prostate cancer. Under the terms, J&J agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of San Diego-based Ambrx for $28 apiece, marketing a 105% premium to the firm’s Jan. 5 closing price. Unsurprisingly, Ambrx’s stock (NASDAQ:AMAM) gained 101.5% to close Jan. 8 at $27.47.
Announcing two licensing deals with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG, Shanghai-based Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said on Jan. 7 that it stands to gain up to $4.165 billion for two of its cardiovascular assets combined. Marking the “first significant overseas out-licensing transaction in the RNAi field from a Chinese biotech company,” the deal includes an up-front payment of $185 million from Novartis to Argo.
Boston Scientific Corp. agreed to acquire neurostimulation company Axonics Inc. for $71 per share or $3.7 billion in total. Axonics focuses on stimulation of the sacral neve to treat overactive bladder and bowel dysfunction. It also offers a bulking agent to address stress urinary incontinence in women.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024, pending approval of stockholders and regulators.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc. is picking up LG Chem Ltd.’s oral small-molecule drug, LB-54640, for potentially $305 million, effectively growing its MC4R pipeline that houses U.S. FDA-approved Imcivree (setmelanotide) for genetic obesity disorders.
Amid a flurry of dealmaking activity to start 2024, Allorion Therapeutics Inc., a 2020 startup based in Natick, Mass., and Guangzhou, China, has been extra busy. Two days after disclosing a potential $540 million deal with Astrazeneca plc, Allorion inked a licensing agreement with Avenzo Therapeutics Inc. that could total more than $1 billion.
A deal crafted in May 2022 between Novo Nordisk A/S and Flagship Pioneering has culminated into two separate research collaborations that are worth up to $532 million each in up-front and milestone payments for Omega Therapeutics Inc. and Cellarity Inc.
Following up on a 2021 partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Bridgene Biosciences Inc. has signed up a second international drug company, Galapagos NV, to use its chemoproteomic platform, IMTAC (Isobaric Mass Tagged Affinity Characterization), to discover small-molecule drug candidates.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s start to the new year includes two fresh deals across two continents. BI struck one deal with Kunshan, China-based Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its Mölndal, Sweden-based subsidiary, Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB, to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It struck a second deal with San Francisco-based 3T Biosciences Inc. to develop cancer immunotherapies, which builds on an earlier collaboration formed last year. Combined, the two deals are worth more than $2.5 billion.
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