CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. on May 30 disclosed that the company was engaged in ongoing negotiations with unnamed, independent third parties regarding three license deals and collaborations that could total up to $5 billion combined.
Facing erosion of its mighty Eylea (aflibercept) franchise and near-term loss of exclusivity with Dupixent (dupilumab), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. took a blow as one of two phase III trials with IL-33-blocking monoclonal antibody itepekimab failed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based firm’s shares (NASDAQ:REGN) closed May 30 at $490.28, down $115.11, or 19%. Partner Sanofi SA, of Paris, saw its stock (NASDAQ:SNY) dip somewhat, too, and ended at $49.37, down $2.98. Cantor analyst Carter Gould opined that the latest news “all but [ruled] out a path forward short of a new study” with the compound.
Pfizer Inc. is paying $1.25 billion up front and up to $4.8 billion in milestone payments to gain global, ex-China rights to SSGJ-707, a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody from 3Sbio Inc. that recently won China clearance for a phase III study in lung cancer as a potential first-line monotherapy. Announced after U.S. market hours May 19, the exclusive agreement for SSGJ-707 spells up to $6.15 billion combined for Shenyang, China-based 3Sbio, along with separate tiered double-digit royalty payments on sales of SSGJ-707, if approved.
If U.S. sectoral tariffs on biopharmaceuticals become a reality and most country-by-country tariffs on other medical products resume, manufacturers may have to rethink their use of U.S. free trade zones to turn foreign-sourced active pharmaceutical ingredients and other components into finished products for the U.S. market.
Despite missing a phase II study’s primary endpoint in moderate to severe asthma, Sanofi SA sees a way forward to a phase III program in the crowded disease space. Preliminary results showed the annualized exacerbation rate endpoint wasn’t met at the highest dosage of amlitelimab. Those numbers, at week 48, showed nominal significance at the medium dose.
Compared to other forms of prevention, a unique issue for pandemic preparedness is that it is forever unclear what pathogen, exactly, the world needs to be prepared for. There are an estimated 300,000 viruses that infect mammals; add in birds, and the estimate grows to more than half a million. Some of those viruses are much greater threats than others.
South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on April 8 cleared Barythrax injection (GC-1109) as the world’s first recombinant anthrax vaccine. The product was codeveloped by GC Biopharma Corp. and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
As it prepares to advance its lead RNA editing candidate, AIR-001, into a phase I/II trial for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, Airna Corp. Inc. closed an oversubscribed $155 million series B financing less than a year after completing its series A round. The company, based in Cambridge, Mass., with research operations in Tübingen, Germany, focuses not only on repairing harmful genetic variants found in rare genetic disorders, but also on introducing beneficial variants that improve health in common conditions.
GRI Bio Inc.’s oral version of tazarotene is showing phase IIa promise in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The peek at interim safety with the compound, a RAR-βɣ dual agonist designed to inhibit the activity of human type 1 invariant natural killer T cells, consisted of a preplanned analysis of two-week results in the biomarker study. GRI-0621 at 4.5 mg once daily proved safe and well-tolerated in the first 12 patients.
It was a mixed day for Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., which disclosed separately on March 28 both the termination of a $336 million licensing deal with CS Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and upbeat plans to unveil three new oncology assets at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research in April.
RSS
