Novo Nordisk A/S has taken the plunge and bought its RNA interference (RNAi) technology development partner Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. for around $3.3 billion. Bagsværd, Denmark-based Novo Nordisk has been working with Dicerna, of Lexington, Mass., since 2019 on therapies that selectively silence genes that cause or contribute to disease. RNAi is triggered by double stranded RNA, which causes degradation of a specific RNA target that codes for a rogue disease-causing protein.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. has completed a $20 million equity investment in Compugen Ltd., part of an ongoing expansion a collaboration between the companies to combine their medicines for the potential benefit of patients with solid tumors.
Roche Holding AG is walking away from a deal with Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc. to co-develop the COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment AT-527 after the mid-October failure of a global phase II study testing the medicine in non-hospitalized adults with mild or moderate disease missed its primary endpoint. Roche’s decision tosses the rights and licenses back to Atea so it can continue its development and commercialization efforts.
Curacle Co. Ltd. is training its sights on more partnerships after nabbing a licensing and collaboration agreement with Théa Open Innovation, a subsidiary of Laboratoires Théa SAS. The deal, for CU06-RE, Curacle’s oral treatment for diabetic macular edema and wet age-related macular degeneration (wet-AMD), includes $6 million up front for Curacle and as much as $157.5 million in potential development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as royalties on sales.
Acelyrin Inc. closed a $250 million series B round and, at the same time, unveiled a licensing deal with Affibody AB, involving an interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor, izokibep, which it is now testing in a pivotal trial in uveitis. Solna, Sweden-based Affibody is getting $25 million up front and could earn up to $280 million more in regulatory and sales-based milestones, as well as tiered royalties, ranging from high single digits to low double digits in percentage terms.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will spin off its consumer health division as a stand-alone public company, leaving J&J to focus on its pharmaceutical and medical device businesses.
I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd. formed a partnership with Hubei Jumpcan Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in a deal worth up to ¥2.016 billion (US$315.2 million) to develop, manufacture and commercialize recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) eftansomatropin alfa (TJ-101) in mainland China.
Just months after completion of its spinout from Merck & Co. Inc., Organon & Co. has revealed plans to fold in a second acquisition: the Finnish firm Forendo Pharma Ltd., which is advancing an early stage candidate for endometriosis. The deal includes $75 million up front and as much as $870 million in potential milestone payments for Forendo owner Karolinska Development AB, which said the buyout is one of the largest biotech transactions in the Nordic region. Earlier deals rounding out the company's recent story include a Merck-facilitated acquisition of Alydia Health Inc. and a July deal with Obseva SA.
Novome Biotechnologies Inc. wasn’t out shaking the trees looking for a partner in its drive to develop cellular therapies for the gut to treat chronic diseases but it found one in Genentech Inc., which was familiar with Novome’s founding work at Stanford University. Now the two have struck a multiyear collaboration to discover, engineer and develop bacterial strains expressing and delivering molecules to targets in the intestinal tract to treat diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Ascletis Pharma Inc. has obtained the global development and commercialization right for ASC-22 (envafolimab) outside greater China from Suzhou-based Alphamab Oncology Co. Ltd. to treat viral diseases including hepatitis B.
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