Shares of Alkermes plc slipped 15% Nov. 9 on news that longtime partner Janssen Pharmaceutica NV plans to partially terminate two license agreements related to know-how royalties on U.S. sales of paliperidone products using Alkermes’ nanoparticulate technology. While the move is expected to result in only a modest near-term impact on the Dublin-based firm’s bottom line, it took both company management and investors by surprise.
In the Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd. and Pfizer Inc. collaboration to commercialize Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) outside the U.S., Biohaven will receive tiered double-digit royalties on ex-U.S. net sales as well as milestone payments of up to $1.24 billion. The target: more than 1 billion migraine sufferers worldwide with lots of clinical competition.
Alcon AG plans to acquire Ivantis Inc. for $475 million at closing, regaining a significant position in the lucrative minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) space through the addition of the Hydrus microstent device to its ophthalmology portfolio. In addition to the up-front payment, the deal includes additional unspecified contingent payments dependent on achievement of certain milestones. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
A surge in deal activity over the last few months has placed 2021 in the running for beating 2020, the best year on record, and becoming the top year for the biopharma industry to date.
BioWorld has recorded 1,680 deals valued at $167.39 billion in 2021 vs. 1,744 deals valued at $159.98 billion by this point last year. That puts 2021 ahead by about 5% on deal values.
Aptose Biosciences Inc. has bought over the worldwide rights to Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s myeloid kinome inhibitor in a deal worth up to $420 million. Seoul, South Korea-based Hanmi has granted Aptose exclusive worldwide rights to HM-43239 for all indications. The candidate was developed for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
Trendlines Group Ltd. reported the acquisition of its portfolio company Orthospin Ltd. by Synthes GmbH, a division of Depuy Synthes, the orthopedics company of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), for $79.5 million in cash. Johnson & Johnson’s involvement in the company goes back to July 2018, when J&J Innovation (JJDC) led the company’s series A round.
Fapon Biotech Inc. expanded its presence in the global next-generation sequencing (NGS) market by acquiring all of the shares in U.S. firm Sequlite Genomics US Inc. With the acquisition, the Dongguan, China-based Fapon Biotech will manage Sequlite’s product development and business operation.
A more than 20-year uneasy biopharma romance between two Swiss giants will be ending as Novartis AG plans to sell its stake in Roche Holding AG back to Roche for about $20.7 billion. Roche described it as a “disentanglement of the two competitors” that will allow it to regain “full strategic flexibility.” Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis currently owns about one-third of Roche, whose shareholders get the final say-so when they vote yea or nay at the company’s Nov. 26 extraordinary general meeting. Novartis was very clear about how it views its stake in Roche, as the company said it “does not consider the financial investment in Roche as part of its core business and therefore not a strategic asset” and that it’s time to “monetize our investment.”
Four years after an initial investment, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. exercised its option to acquire Gammadelta Therapeutics Ltd. to develop gamma delta T-cell therapies for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.
Antengene Corp. Ltd. has formed a partnership with Legochem Biosciences Inc. to jointly develop new antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) primarily for cancer. The partners will integrate antibodies from Antengene with Legochem’s ADC technology.
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