Through a $600 million deal, Juniper Biologics Pte. Ltd. has acquired rights from Kolon Life Science Inc. to develop and commercialize TG-C LD (Tissuegene-C low dose) for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Singapore-based Juniper will hold the rights for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and be responsible for developing and commercializing the candidate within those regions.
Jiangsu Atom Bioscience and Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a company developing an oral a urate anion exchanger 1 inhibitor for the potential treatment of chronic gout, said results of a phase IIa trial show that its lead candidate, ABP-671, reduced serum uric acid levels to less than 6 mg/dL, below the clinically defined threshold of 7 mg/dL for hyperuricemia, or excess of uric acid in the blood, which leads to gout.
One of Pfizer Inc.’s last decisions of 2021 was to shell out $6.7 billion for San Diego’s Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., a deal centered around the pipeline inflammatory disease pill etrasimod. A potential successor to Xeljanz (tofacitinib), the price New York-based Pfizer paid suggests blockbuster potential for etrasimod. Phase III results announced March 23 suggest Pfizer’s big acquisition, the fifth largest in biopharma in 2021, was money well spent.
Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd.’s wholly owned subsidiary Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has acquired Asia-Pacific rights to two drugs from Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in a deal worth up to $662 million. “This collaboration aims to bring Kiniksa’s therapeutics to patients in the Asia Pacific Region suffering from severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” said Sanj Patel, chairman and CEO of Kiniksa. “The collaboration also provides nondilutive capital, cost-sharing, and resources for clinical trials to accelerate our drug development and commercialization efforts.”
Third Harmonic Bio Inc. CEO Natalie Holles said the company’s $105 million in series B money will push THB-001 – a first-in-class, highly selective, oral inhibitor of wild-type KIT – “well past the first proof-of-concept study in inducible urticaria [hives].”
Star Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth mode to tell the world about its approach to drug discovery and development in rare diseases, and to spin out Electra Therapeutics Inc., the first in a projected family of companies.
Innovent Biologics Inc. has secured an option to license China rights for up to three enzyme specific inhibitors for inflammatory disorders with few or no treatments from Amagma Therapeutics Inc. Innovent will also manufacture the inhibitors for a phase II trial in the region.
Recludix Pharma Inc. launched with a $60 million series A round to target Src homology 2 (SH2) domains, and the new money will get the San Diego-based firm to reach the IND-enabling stage, CEO Nancy Whiting told BioWorld.
LONDON – There’s not yet proof of the pudding, but Omass Therapeutics Ltd.’s new structure-based technology has passed a key test, in enabling the discovery of orally available small molecules aimed at intractable and poorly drugged membrane and complex-bound protein targets. The targets, including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), intracellular protein complexes and solute carriers, are relevant to immunology indications and rare diseases with high unmet need.
LONDON – Four decades of academic research at the University of California, San Francisco, is to be translated through to the clinic with funding from a €1 million (US$1.2 million) European Commission grant. The money, awarded to a Dutch/German consortium will fund the generation and optimization of antibodies designed to neutralize oxidized phospholipids that mediate inflammatory changes in a swathe of diseases. The consortium that won the Eurostars award is led by Oxitope Pharma BV.
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