Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co. Inc. President and CEO Kazuhide Nakatomi is leading a management buyout to take the company private, citing mounting drug pricing pressures and tougher listing requirements on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Two phase III studies of setrusumab, Orbit and Cosmic, for treating brittle bones have failed and left the developers floundering on Wall Street. Neither of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. and Mereo Biopharma Group plc’s studies of the monoclonal antibody in treating osteogenesis imperfecta hit statistical significance in their primary endpoints, though they did achieve their secondary endpoints. The companies are still looking at the numbers to determine their next steps.

Gene therapy has had its commercial struggles in the past year. The cost to patients is in the millions and fewer are stepping forward for treatment than companies would like. While development continues in this game-changing field, some have struggled with regulatory authorities during development while others have just stepped away altogether.

Shionogi & Co. Ltd. will acquire global rights to U.S. FDA approved amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapy edaravone through a $2.5 billion acquisition deal with Tanabe Pharma Corp. Under the terms, Tanabe will form a new entity harboring both oral and intravenous (I.V.) infusion formulations of edaravone that are marketed in the U.S. as Radicava ORS and I.V. Radicava.

ADEL Inc. closed a year-end licensing deal worth up to $1.04 billion with Sanofi SA for ADEL-Y01, a specific tau-targeting Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate in a U.S. phase I study.

Formation Bio Inc. acquired ex-China rights to Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral TYK2-inhibitor, LNK-01006, for up to $605 million. The phase I-ready central nervous system (CNS) candidate will be developed at Formation’s newly formed subsidiary, Bleecker Bio.

Sanofi SA reported more hitches in the development of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor tolebrutinib, saying the phase III Perseus study failed to meet its primary endpoint in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and that the ongoing U.S. regulatory review in non-relapsing secondary progressive MS likely will extend beyond the targeted PDUFA date of Dec. 28.

Formation Bio Inc. acquired ex-China rights to Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral TYK2-inhibitor, LNK-01006, for up to $605 million. The phase I-ready central nervous system (CNS) candidate will be developed at Formation’s newly formed subsidiary, Bleecker Bio.

Shares of San Diego-based Capricor Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CAPR) closed Dec. 3 at $29.96, up $23.60, or 371%, as investors cheered top-line data from the pivotal phase III Hope-3 trial testing cell therapy deramiocel in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.