Just weeks after signing a targeted RNA degrader deal with Arrakis Inc., Amgen Inc. has enlisted protein degrader specialist Plexium Inc. to a new deal in the high-profile field. "We're on the cusp of a new era of drug discovery, where medicines could function very differently than conventional ones do today," said Amgen's senior vice president of global research, Ray Deshaies.

Mersana Therapeutics Inc. has signed a potential billion-dollar agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Biotech Inc. to research and develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for three cancer targets. Janssen will pay $40 million up front as well as more than $1 billion in potential milestone payments in a big day for ADCs, which saw Mersana’s other development partner, Synaffix BV, announce a tie-up with Macrogenics, Inc. in a deal worth up to $586 million.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is making a one-time $1.25 billion payment, with a commitment for a royalty that analysts predict could add as much $1.5 billion more, to Viiv Healthcare Ltd., in a deal designed to resolve all global pending or potential patent infringement claims relating to sales of HIV drug Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide). The initial payment, recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021, put a significant dent in Gilead’s earnings per share but removes the uncertainty of a trial outcome and clears the way for future bictegravir-containing products.

Samsung Biologics Co. Ltd. has agreed to buy out Biogen Inc.’s stake in the joint venture Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. for $2.3 billion. Biogen will receive $1 billion in cash at closing and $1.25 billion in deferred payments of $812.5 million due at the first anniversary and $437.5 million due at the second anniversary of the closing of the transaction. Biogen is also expected to receive up to $50 million upon achievement of certain commercial milestones.

Several pharma companies think that targeting a rogue protein known as alpha-synuclein could be the key to halting or reversing neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease – but has the industry learned from a string of failures in Alzheimer’s? In the space of a few weeks, Novartis AG and Sanofi AS have signed major deals for molecules targeting misfolded alpha-synuclein, the rogue protein thought to be the root cause of Parkinson’s disease.

With a potentially pivotal trial of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) candidate CAP-1002 starting up, Capricor Therapeutics Inc. has tapped Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. subsidiary NS Pharma Inc. to sell and distribute the cell therapy, pending U.S. FDA approval. The deal brings Capricor $30 million up front to fund the phase III trial, while also lining it up for as much as $705 million in milestone payments from its Japanese partner, which launched its own DMD therapy, Viltepso (viltolarsen), in the U.S. in 2020. Capricor shares (NASADQ:CAPR) rose 21.6% to $3.44 Jan. 25.

Innovent Biologics Inc. has secured an option to license China rights for up to three enzyme specific inhibitors for inflammatory disorders with few or no treatments from Amagma Therapeutics Inc. Innovent will also manufacture the inhibitors for a phase II trial in the region.

When Glaxosmithkline plc’s new CEO, Emma Walmsley, was hiring a “dream team” of executives to lead the company in 2017, former Genentech whizz Hal Barron was the star signing as chief scientific officer. Lured away from Alphabet Inc.’s biotech subsidiary, Calico LLC, by a bumper pay deal, Barron was arguably Walmsley’s most important appointment. Walmsley badly needed a strong leader with credible expertise in science to lead the company’s R&D efforts, as her expertise and experience came from the company’s consumer operation. But as GSK plans to split later this year, Barron is heading for the exit to become CEO of California’s ambitious and enormously well-funded startup Altos Labs Inc.