Aqilion AB has sold rights to its TAK1 inhibitors to Merck KGaA in an exclusive license and research collaboration agreement worth at least €960 million (US$1.03 billion) including potential milestones and royalties. The global giant will pay the Swedish biotech – which is headquartered in Helsingborg – €10 million in cash up front for the program and potential development and commercialization milestones and tiered royalties on worldwide net sales of more than €950 million.
In a blow to Aussie regenerative medicine company Regeneus Ltd., Japan’s Kyocera Corp. has pulled out of a licensing deal for Regeneus’ lead mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy, Progenza, for osteoarthritis of the knee for the Japan market. Osteoarthritis of the knee is the first indication for Progenza, an allogeneic off-the-shelf adipose-derived MSC therapy.
The first in vivo cell atlas of senescent tissue in skeletal muscle has identified the damaging properties of these cells and explained why they block muscle regeneration. According to a study at Pompeu Fabra University led by scientists from Altos Labs Inc., cell damage caused the senescence of the cells, which secreted toxic substances into the surrounding microenvironment, causing fibrosis and preventing tissue regeneration.
Unlike amphibians, mammals do not regenerate appendages. Except when they do. “If you amputate one of the branches off of the antler [of a reindeer], it will also regenerate,” Jeff Biernaskie told BioWorld. Even without amputation, the antlers of both male and female reindeer regenerate annually, including their skin. That regeneration is “the only large mammal model of true skin regeneration,” he said.
Apogee Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth with $169 million in financing and a pipeline of four preclinical antibody development programs that take aim at major immunological and inflammatory disorders.
The age-old separation of dentistry from medicine is deeply embedded in education and professional practice. Given the great advances in both disciplines in recent decades, there is a reasonable argument to be made for maintaining the divide.
C4X Discovery Holdings plc has outlicensed its once daily oral NRF2 (Nuclear factor-erythroid factor 2-related factor 2) activator to Astrazeneca plc in a deal with a potential value of $402 million. Of that, $2 million is being paid up front, with a further $14 million in preclinical milestones, which C4X CEO Clive Dix expects to trigger within the next two years.
An in-depth investigation of the underlying causes of pulmonary symptoms that in some cases persist for months following recovery from the acute stage of COVID-19 has found a distinctive proinflammatory signature in the plasma and airways of affected patients.
New research presented by the University of Michigan revealed groundbreaking results for Certa Therapeutics Pty Ltd.’s lead candidate, FT-011, for serious inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The results of a chronic kidney disease study presented at the American Society of Nephrology meeting on Nov. 4 concluded that FT-011 reverses the activation of molecular markers associated with fibrosis.
Matchpoint Therapeutics Inc. has launched with $100 million in financing to research drugs based on covalent chemistry targeting inflammatory diseases, aiming to offer more patient-friendly oral alternatives to the biologic injections that dominate the field.