Epirium Bio Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for MF-300, a first-in-class orally administered, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) enzyme inhibitor.
The regular use of agonists of the μ-opioid receptor for acute pain relief usually leads to tolerance, respiratory depression, constipation and importantly, abuse potential.
Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc. and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. have entered a research collaboration worth up to $480 million to advance Dewpoint’s novel TDP-43 small-molecule condensate modulator for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Under terms of the deal, Boston-based Dewpoint will receive an undisclosed up-front payment and is eligible to receive R&D-based milestone payments up to $480 million. Upon reaching those milestones, Osaka, Japan-based MTPC will have an exclusive option to license the program and assume responsibility for global clinical development and commercialization. Dewpoint will also receive tiered royalties on net sales.
Sunshine Biopharma Inc. announced it has developed an orally active protease inhibitor that showed dose-dependent antiviral activity in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Empyrean Therapeutics Inc. has acquired a first-in-class TLR2 antagonist molecule from Eos Therapies Inc. with the aim of treating brain, pancreatic, breast and other hard-to-treat cancers.
More than two years since emerging from stealth, Vesalius Therapeutics Inc. signed its first major pharma deal with GSK plc. Worth up to $650 million and possibly more if an option is exercised, the multitarget alliance aims to discover and develop novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease and another neurodegenerative indication.
Flare Therapeutics Inc. will receive $70 million in cash up front from Roche Holding AG, and the deal could ultimately bring the company about $1.8 billion plus royalties. Flare will search for small molecules that can be used to treat undruggable transcription factors to treat cancer. Also, Novartis AG will pay computational-chemistry expert Schrödinger Inc. $150 million up front and as much as $2.3 billion in milestones to develop several candidates along with up to $892 million in R&D and milestone payments.
Two days after Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. signed a molecular glue degrader deal with Novartis AG, two other companies, Biogen Inc. and Neomorph Inc., are moving forward in the same space in a partnership worth up to $1.45 billion. Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen and San Diego-based Neomorph will develop molecular glue degraders (MGDs) for priority targets in Alzheimer’s, rare neurological and immunological diseases, using Neomorph’s MGD platform to identify and validate novel small-molecule protein degraders.