Innerscope Hearing Technologies Inc. acquired the assets and operations of Ihear Medical Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The deal significantly boosts Innerscope’s position in the emerging market of direct-to-consumer and over-the-counter hearing products, an important development in the run-up to the FDA’s expected release next month of new regulations for hearing aids that can be sold in stores without a prescription.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. have negotiated a geographically-focused licensing deal to develop and commercialize JR-141 (pabinafusp alfa), a potential therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis type II, also known as Hunter syndrome.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd., its U.S.-based subsidiary Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have inked a global collaboration agreement to jointly advance four new compounds for serious neuropsychiatric conditions. Sunovion granted Otsuka rights to collaboratively develop and commercialize the four compounds worldwide. In return, Sunovion will receive an up-front payment of $270 million and up to $620 million in development milestone payments for the agents, with the potential for more depending on additional indications. It could also receive sales milestones from Otsuka.
PERTH, Australia – Cynata Therapeutics Ltd. has regained rights to its Cymerus mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product, CYP-001, for graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) from former licensee Fujifilm Corp., with the two companies negotiating a new partnership under which Fujifilm will manufacture the product.
Xencor Inc. and Janssen Biotech Inc., already partners on the development of bispecific antibodies against CD28 for prostate cancer, have reached a second agreement licensing to Janssen exclusive development and commercialization rights to Xencor's phase I bispecific antibody, plamotamab, for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, both as a monotherapy and in combination regimens.
Selecta Biosciences Inc. joined a licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to develop AAV-driven gene therapies for two lysosomal storage disorders that could bring Watertown, Mass.-based Selecta up to $1.124 billion. The payments depend upon hitting development or commercial milestones. Selecta is also receiving an undisclosed up-front payment and is eligible for tiered royalties on commercial sales.
South Korea’s Cgbio Inc. has entered a partnership agreement with Singapore-based NDR Medical Technology Pte. Ltd. to introduce and test an automated needle targeting (ANT)-X system to assist surgeons during minimally invasive surgery. The system will combine artificial intelligence (AI) and medical image processing, based on core technology from NDR Medical.
In the year’s second biggest M&A deal, Merck & Co. Inc. will take over pulmonary and hematologic specialist Acceleron Pharma Inc. for $11.5 billion. The acquisition brings Merck a pair of potential blockbuster drugs, one of them already marketed. There is sotatercept, in development for treating pulmonary hypertension (PH), and also Reblozyl (luspatercept-aamt), the first and only erythroid maturation agent approved in the U.S., Europe and Canada for treating anemia in certain blood disorders.
Glucomodicum Oy tapped contract manufacturer Phillips-Medisize LLC to develop its needle-free continuous glucose monitor (CGM), Talisman, which is based on Glucomodicum’s magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) platform technology that measures glucose levels from interstitial fluid. The wearable CGM – the size of a smartwatch – combines MHD technology with biosensors and algorithms so health care professionals can monitor patients’ diabetes.
Astrazeneca plc’s Alexion rare diseases unit has taken an option to buy all remaining equity in Caelum Biosciences Inc., adding a rare disease drug to its pipeline in a deal worth $500 million. At the center of the deal is CAEL-101, a potentially first-in-class monoclonal antibody designed to tackle the toxic amyloid deposits that build up in organs of people with the rare disease light chain amyloidosis.
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