Japanese industrial conglomerate Asahi Kasei Corp. has made an offer to acquire Swedish rare diseases specialist Calliditas Therapeutics AB for SEK11.8 billion (US$1.1 billion). The offer, at an 83% premium to the closing share price of SEK113.60 on Monday, May 27, is recommended by the three biggest shareholders and the board of Calliditas, which said the company would benefit from “being part of a larger platform.”
South Korea’s Celltrion Inc. secured May 22 the European Commission’s go-ahead for Omlyclo (CT-P39) to be the first biosimilar to Genentech Inc./Novartis AG’s Xolair (omalizumab) in Europe for three of its major indications.
Grey Wolf Therapeutics Ltd. added $50 million to its series B, bringing the total for the round to $99 million and providing funding to expand the scope of an ongoing phase I/II trial of its lead antigen modulation program.
Hørsholm, Denmark-based Contera Pharma A/S’ lead asset for levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease, JM-010, failed to meet its primary endpoint in the late-stage phase IIb Astoria trial. JM-010 is a novel drug formulation and 5-HT receptor modulator that combines existing medications of immediate-release buspirone and extended-release zolmitriptan.
Pheon Therapeutics Ltd. is poised to start the first of three clinical trials of its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), after closing a $120 million series B. The company is taking a “three-pronged approach” in order to stake out as much of the ground as it can for its next-generation ADC, which delivers an in-house-designed topoisomerase inhibitor to a novel undisclosed transmembrane protein target.
AC Immune SA has landed a potential $2.2 billion deal for its anti-amyloid beta Alzheimer’s disease vaccine, ACI-24.060, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., under which it will get $100 million up front and is eligible to receive an option exercise fee, plus potential development, commercial and sales-based milestones of up to $2.1 billion.
The U.K.’s world-first subscription model for antimicrobials is to be expanded following a successful pilot scheme in which companies are being paid a fixed annual fee for their drugs, regardless of the volume dispensed.
Newco Commit Biologics ApS has arrived on the scene after raising €16 million (US$17.2 million) in a seed round to advance bispecific antibodies that are designed to activate the complement system and direct it to selectively kill cancer cells.
Tiumbio Co. Ltd., of Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, reported positive phase IIa top-line data on May 8 for Merigolix, its lead asset to reduce pain in female patients with moderate to severe endometriosis.
The EMA’s chief medical officer has expressed disquiet that Europe has fallen behind in the development of psychedelic drugs as approved therapies for mental disorders, saying they should be given “a second chance.”
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