Sosei Heptares is fulfilling its ambition for growth in the Asia-Pacific region by buying the Japanese and South Korea businesses of Swiss biotech Idorsia Ltd. for ¥65 billion (US$463 million), potentially freeing Idorsia from its struggle to prove its stroke drug, Pivlaz (clazosentan), is effective enough to warrant approval in key Western markets.
Dismissed as undruggable in the early 2000s, Src homology 2 domains are now viable and at the heart of Recludix Pharma Inc.’s new deal with Sanofi SA’s U.S. unit. The two will collaborate on developing and commercializing treatments for immunological and inflammatory diseases. In the near term, Recludix will get $125 million, but long term it could add up to $1.2 billion in milestones. Recludix could also bring in up to double-digit royalties on possible future product sales.
Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is selling its North American branded ophthalmic portfolio to Visiox Pharma LLC and Harrow Health Inc. in a move to make its global organization as competitive as possible, Santen told BioWorld.
Venture firm Flagship Pioneering Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are each investing $50 million in a pact that could result in the development of 10 programs, each worth a potential $700 million in milestones. Altogether, if all products are successfully commercialized, the deal could be worth $7 billion, with milestone money going to Flagship and some of its 45 bioplatform companies.
The biopharma industry experienced a notable decline in deal values and activity in June 2023, with a 48.51% decrease in deal values and a 43.62% decrease in the number of deals completed compared to the previous June. M&As, however, showed a remarkable 824.59% increase in value year over year in June, thanks to several billion-dollar transactions.
Another collaboration between two biopharmaceutical companies in the Asia-Pacific region is adding fuel to an already heated fire for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development worldwide. Suzhou, China-headquartered Genequantum Healthcare Co. Ltd. and South Korea’s Aimedbio Inc. recently announced extending an existing partnership to jointly develop five ADC investigative drugs.
From Roche Holding AG to Novartis AG, bad news abounds for anti-TIGIT immunotherapies. In an SEC filing on July 11, Chinese oncology R&D firm Beigene Ltd. and Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis announced an end to their $1 billion deal to develop the former’s TIGIT immunotherapy ociperlimab, with the checkpoint inhibitor going back to Beigene.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. have expanded their development and commercialization partnership for Daybue (trofinetide) beyond the U.S. to take the Rett syndrome treatment to the world in a deal valued at $527 million plus royalties.
On the heels of a licensing deal last week, Genequantum Healthcare Co. Ltd. has struck another deal, this time out-licensing its conjugation technology to Inxmed Co. Ltd. to support development of next-generation targeted antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
With a bruising battle with its largest investor barely behind it, Masimo Corp.’s preliminary second quarter results came in nearly $100 million below consensus, putting management in an even tougher position now that it has two new investor-aligned board members. Share price plunged from $147.16 to $110 following the after-hours announcement on Monday. By the closing bell on Tuesday, shares had recovered modestly to $117.73.
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