Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is getting $35 million up front and up to $500 million per program as it extends its drug discovery collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. to include small-molecule activators of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. The number of programs was not disclosed, but they will target forms of p53 that have lost their function as a result of cancer-induced mutations in the TP53 gene. The aim will be to override the mutation and restore the ability of the wild-type protein to bind DNA and perform its functions as a transcription factor.
Amarin Corp. plc has chosen Taiwan-based Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to make headway in Southeast Asia and South Korea for omega-3 fatty acid-based Vazkepa, its icosapent ethyl drug that’s facing increasing generic and pricing pressure in the U.S. and Europe.
Amarin Corp. plc has chosen Taiwan-based Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to make headway in Southeast Asia and South Korea for omega-3 fatty acid-based Vazkepa, its icosapent ethyl drug that’s facing increasing generic and pricing pressure in the U.S. and Europe.
Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. is scouting for more novel targeted protein degrader (TPD) therapeutics, having added a research and licensing deal with Peptidream Inc. to its shopping cart filled with TPD promises.
Celloram Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Seoul, South Korea-based Medpacto Inc., signed a €160 million (US$175.88 million) licensing deal with Genfit SA to develop Celloram’s inflammasome inhibitor, CLM-022, for liver disease.
Revolution Medicines Inc. is acquiring Eqrx Inc. in an all-stock transaction designed to add more than $1 billion in net cash for Revolution so it can forge ahead with its RAS pathway programs. Serial biotech entrepreneur and investor Alexis Borisy co-founded Eqrx in 2020 to deliver new medicines for cancer and other conditions at "radically lower prices." Borisy also co-founded Revolution, where he remains as executive chairman.
Despite a newly signed $645 million commercialization deal with Neuraxpharm Group for multiple sclerosis drug Briumvi (ublituximab) in Europe, shares of TG Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:TGTX) tanked by 49.3% on Aug. 1 due to a perceived miss in U.S. net sales for the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody during its first full quarter on the U.S. market.
Celloram Inc. has signed a licensing agreement with Genfit SA to advance Celloram’s first-in-class inflammasome inhibitor, CLM-022. The agreement grants Genfit exclusive global rights to develop CLM-022 in liver disease indications.
Alexion, Astrazeneca Rare Disease, part of Astrazeneca plc, has entered a definitive purchase and license agreement for a portfolio of preclinical gene therapy programs and enabling technologies from Pfizer Inc.
Teleflex Inc.’s agreement to acquire Palette Life Sciences AB for up to $650 million to boost its urology portfolio continues the company’s strategy of acquiring assets that are accretive to its growth rate. Palette has developed a number of urology products, key among them the Barrigel, a non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid (NASHA) spacer that reduces radiation delivered to the rectum during prostate cancer radiation therapy. With radiation treatment trends increasing, the market for Barrigel is expected to grow.
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