Erytech Pharma AS, repositioning itself to recover from a tough phase III cancer study failure in 2021, will merge with Pherecydes Pharma SA, which specializes in precision phage therapy for treating resistant and/or complicated bacterial infections.
Calibr at Scripps Research and the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) have entered into a strategic licensing agreement to advance development of a novel investigational compound for treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
Assembly Biosciences Inc. has selected development candidate ABI-5366 to progress to IND-enabling studies from its long-acting herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) helicase inhibitor program for high-recurrence genital herpes. The company is targeting IND/CTA filings in the first half of next year.
Bavarian Nordic A/S plans to buy two travel vaccines plus a phase III chikungunya vaccine candidate from Emergent Biosolutions Inc. for about $380 million. Emergent will receive a $270 million up-front payment and perhaps as much as $110 million in future milestone payments. The vaccines are Vivotif, for preventing typhoid fever, and Vaxchora, for preventing cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1. Both oral vaccines have U.S. FDA and European approvals.
Cathepsin L (CTS-L) is a lysosomal enzyme responsible for degrading endocytosed proteins to generate immunogenic antigens for adaptive immunities. In the current study, researchers reported data from a study that aimed to assess the potential of targeting procathepsin L (pCTS-L) as a potential therapeutic strategy against sepsis.
Thylacine Biotherapeutics Inc. has entered into a license agreement with Columbia University for worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize a novel antiviral peptide platform invented and refined at Columbia.
Zhimeng Biopharma Inc. found a global partner for its hepatitis B virus (HBV) program, licensing rights to GSK plc for CB-06, an oral small-molecule Toll-like receptor 8 agonist. Pending positive data from an ongoing phase I study, GSK will gain rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the drug for chronic HBV infection, either for use in combination or as a sequential treatment with bepirovirsen.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has exercised an option to obtain an exclusive license from Columbia University for the development of a portfolio of fully human (TNX-3600) and murine (TNX-4100) monoclonal antibodies for the treatment or prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Scientists at the University of Sydney have discovered a protein in the lung that blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body. Leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 15 (LRRC15) is an inbuilt receptor that binds the SARS-CoV-2 virus without passing on the infection. The discovery opens a new area of immunology research around LRRC15 and suggests a pathway to develop new drugs to prevent viral infection from coronaviruses like COVID-19, but also to deal with fibrosis in the lungs.
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