News of Vaccinex Inc. signing two multitarget deals with undisclosed "prominent pharmaceutical companies" sent company shares (NASDAQ:VCNX) up 70% to $4.88 on Feb. 19, even as financial terms of the deal went undisclosed. The collaborations will focus on using the company's ActivMAb antibody discovery and novel viral display platform to develop candidates against complex antigens such as G protein-coupled receptors and ion channels, the company said.
HONG KONG – Beijing-based Beigene Ltd. struck its second deal outside China this year, signing an option and license agreement with Boston Immune Technologies & Therapeutics Inc. (BITT) for the latter’s tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) antagonist antibodies. Beigene will exclusively develop, manufacture and commercialize BITT’s TNFR2 antagonist antibodies in Asia, excepting Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
HONG KONG – Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. picked up the greater China rights to Scynexis Inc.’s lead candidate, ibrexafungerp. Under the terms, Hansoh will take charge of the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of the antifungal in the region in exchange for a $10 million up- front payment and as much as $112 million in development and commercial milestones, plus low double-digit royalties on net product sales.
HONG KONG – Ferring Pharmaceuticals’ microbiome-focused subsidiary Rebiotix Inc. and Mybiotics Pharma Ltd. have agreed to a multiyear strategic collaboration to develop live microbiota-based biotherapeutics to address bacterial vaginosis (BV). The companies did not disclose the financials of the deal.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. cut the biggest deal of the company’s life with its new collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. that could be worth $960 million. The two will co-develop and commercialize Rigel’s R-552, a receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) inhibitor, for all indications including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Francesco de Rubertis, a co-founder of Medicixi Ventures, has unveiled the next generation of the venture-backed asset-centric biopharma model with the creation of Centessa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The new company was created by acquiring, in all-share transactions, total control of 10 companies from the Medicxi portfolio.
DUBLIN – Cellectis SA is picking up $15 million worth of equity in Cytovia Therapeutics Inc. and could earn as much as $760 million in development, regulatory and sales milestones from a deal involving up to five gene-edited allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-NK) cell therapies employing its Talen (transcription activator-like effector nuclease) gene editing technology.
Molecular Templates Inc., of Austin, Texas, has signed an R&D collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) worth $70 million up front and potential development, regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to $1.3 billion. Molecular Templates will work on therapies designed for unnamed oncology targets to kill targeted cells by forcing receptor internalization, delivering payloads and enzymatically inactivating ribosomes.
Ensoma Inc., a gene therapy startup working to drastically simplify the production and delivery of genomic medicines, announced itself Feb. 11 with a $70 million series A financing plus a strategic collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., which licensed vectors from the company for up to five rare disease targets in a deal that could deliver as much as $1.25 billion in potential payouts. Ensoma's co-founder and seed investor, 5AM Ventures, led the financing. Takeda took a $10 million equity stake as part of the round.
HONG KONG – Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has agreed to pay Ribon Therapeutics Inc. as much as ¥15.4 billion (US$147.3 million) for exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the company’s phase I PARP7 inhibitor RBN-2397 for the treatment of solid tumors in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and ASEAN countries.
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