In a deal potentially worth $3 billion, privately held Repare Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Montreal, entered a research collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) to identify synthetic lethal precision oncology targets for drug candidates.
SUZHOU, China – Genome editing startup Edigene Inc. and CAR T developer Immunochina Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., both from Beijing, have unveiled joint efforts to develop an allogeneic CAR T therapy for cancer. Terms remain undisclosed.
Arcus Biosciences Inc. “brings the milk without [Gilead Sciences Inc.] having to buy the whole cow” is the way one analyst characterized the pair’s 10-year cancer immunotherapy deal, which could be worth as much as $2 billion, and some may have detected downside for Arcus, as shares (NYSE:RCUS) closed May 27 at $27.05, down $6.49, or 19%. Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead is paying Arcus, of Hayward, Calif., $175 million up front, shelling out a $200 million equity investment, and pledging potentially $1.6 billion or more in the form of R&D support, opt-in cash and milestone payments.
PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based Prescient Therapeutics Pty Ltd. is poised to develop next-generation CAR T therapies after signing an exclusive global licensing deal with the University of Pennsylvania for a universal immune receptor technology platform.
Vividion Therapeutics Inc. has continued to build its roster of partnerships with a multitarget collaboration deal with Roche Holding AG that could be worth billions.
HONG KONG – France’s Sanofi SA has informed Hanmi Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. of its intention to return all the rights to efpeglenatide, the South Korean company’s diabetes drug candidate.
DUBLIN – Affibody AB is getting $10 million up front and up to $215.5 million in regulatory and sales milestones from a licensing deal with Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., in which the latter firm gains commercial rights to its interleukin-17 inhibitor ABY-035 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and South Korea.
DUBLIN – Dyno Therapeutics Inc., an early stage gene therapy firm applying artificial intelligence to advanced capsid engineering, has entered partnerships with Novartis AG and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc., in ophthalmic indications and muscle diseases, respectively, which have over $2 billion in biobucks attached.
Keen to address a rare vision-limiting disorder endured by nearly 1.9 million people globally, ophthalmology specialist Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has negotiated a $252 million ex-U.S. licensing deal for Jcyte Inc.'s Jcell, a human retinal progenitor cell therapy initially aimed at treating retinitis pigmentosa.
Passed up for acquisition by former partner Retrophin Inc., Censa Pharmaceuticals Inc. has found a new home in rare disease specialist PTC Therapeutics Inc., which has agreed to pay $10 million up front for the opportunity to develop CNSA-001 (sepiapterin), a candidate for orphan metabolic diseases, starting with phenylketonuria (PKU). The proposed transaction also includes up to 850,000 shares of PTC common stock (NASDAQ:PTCT), valued around $40 million, plus additional rewards for achieving development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Shares of PTC closed at $46.91 on May 7, down $1.31.