Nuevocor Pte. Ltd. has closed a $45 million series B, enabling it to move lead gene therapy NVC-001 into the clinic in the treatment of an inherited form of cardiomyopathy.
Europe was a bigger counterpart to China in pharmaceutical dealmaking than the U.S. last year, speakers at Chinabio Partnering Forum said April 23, and the trend is likely to continue in 2025 with the shuttering of U.S. capital and volatility ailing global markets.
ABL Bio Inc. announced April 7 that it sealed a potential £2.075 billion (US$2.65 billion) license deal with GSK plc, granting GSK global rights to use ABL’s blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetrating bispecific antibody platform, Grabody-B, to develop multiple programs in the neurodegenerative disease arena. Under the terms signed April 5, ABL agreed to transfer Grabody-B-related technology and know-how to GSK, upon which GSK will assume responsibility for preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization.
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.
Building upon its already impressive obesity drug portfolio, Novo Nordisk A/S has licensed a triple agonist of the receptors for GLP-1, GIP and glucagon from United Biotechnology Co. Ltd. China-based United is getting $200 million up front and the chance to earn up to $1.8 billion in milestone payments. United Biotechnology retains the rights to subcutaneously administered UBT-251, which is in the early stages of development for treating obesity, type 2 diabetes and other diseases, in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan while Bagsværd, Denmark-headquartered Novo get exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the triple agonist receptor across the rest of the world.
Astrazeneca plc is investing heavily in China, signing two R&D deals, worth up to about $8 billion in up-front payments and milestones combined, with Chinese companies Harbour Biomed Ltd. and Syneron Bio, establishing a joint venture with Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co. (Biokangtai) for vaccines, and creating a new R&D center in Beijing through another $2.5 billion investment.
Celltrion Inc. is on a biosimilar roll with the U.S. FDA this month, having gained clearance of Stoboclo and Osenvelt as products referencing Amgen Inc.’s biologic, denosumab (Prolia, Xgeva), along with Omlyclo becoming the first and only interchangeable biosimilar to omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech Inc. and Novartis AG).
The antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) juggernaut powers on, with Japan’s Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. set to acquire Araris Biotech AG for up to $1.14 billion. Of that, $400 million will be up front, with the remainder tied to milestones with a maximum value of $740 million, around the progress of three ADCs for treating solid and hematological cancers.
Alteogen Inc. signed its first billion-dollar partnership this year for ALT-B4 technology through two separate contracts with Astrazeneca plc’s U.K.- and U.S.-based Medimmune subsidiaries worth up to $1.35 billion combined.
Leyden Laboratories BV added a fresh $70 million in financing to advance Panflu, its phase II-ready intranasal pan-influenza prophylactic medicine, while acquiring Cov Biotechnology Pte. Ltd. (Covbio) and its zoonotic virus-targeting portfolio to prepare for the next pandemic.
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