Korean confectionary company Orion Holdings Inc. is growing its biotech presence by purchasing a majority stake of 25% in one of the hottest Korean antibody-drug conjugate developers, Legochem Biosciences Inc., although stocks dropped on the news. Under the contract announced Jan. 15, Seoul-headquartered Orion agreed to acquire a 25.73% stake in Daejeon-based Legochem by securing about 9.36 million shares for a total of ₩548.7 billion (US$412.11 million) by the deadline of March 29, 2024.
In December, biopharma deals reached $23.56 billion, the second-highest monthly total for the year. This reflects an uptick of 25.04% compared to November’s $18.84 billion in deal value. The full year 2023’s deal value of $217.69 billion marked the highest level ever recorded by BioWorld. This was an increase of 5.58% from $206.18 billion recorded in 2022 and surpassed the previous peak, 2021’s $213.57 billion.
U.S. biopharma Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc. handed off China rights of lasofoxifene, an oral endocrine therapy in development for breast cancer, to Shanghai’s Henlius Biotech Inc., for an undisclosed up-front payment and up to $58 million in milestone fees.
Shanghai-based Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals has signed a number of licensing deals over the last week for China rights to cardiovascular drugs to advance its pipeline and its global ambitions, partnering most recently with Tokyo-based TMS Co. Ltd. after the Chinese company acquired global rights for TMS-007 (also known as BIIB-131) from Biogen Inc.
While the value of partnerships and collaborations have climbed mostly upward in recent years, the most impressive increase has been seen with deals that are worth $1 billion or more – led in 2023 with a $22 billion antibody-drug conjugate pact between Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc.
Boston-based Praxis Precision Medicines Inc.’s shares rose nearly 25% on Jan. 8 after it announced a pipeline update and licensing deal for its tremor drug, ulixacaltamide (PRAX-944), with Shanghai’s Tenacia Biotechnology Co. Ltd.
GSK plc is plunking down $1 billion cash to take over Aiolos Bio Inc., with the promise of as much as $400 million in regulatory milestone payments along with tiered royalties. The deal gives London-based GSK asthma candidate AIO-001, a phase II-ready, long-acting antibody that binds to the human thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) ligand to inhibit TSLP signaling and relieve inflammation. GSK said AIO-001 could redefine the standard of care in asthma via the prospect of dosing every six months.
A company launched by Alphabet Inc.’s Deepmind in 2021, Isomorphic Labs Ltd., entered its first biopharmaceutical partnerships to discover small-molecule therapeutics with Eli Lilly and Co. and Novartis AG in deals worth $1.75 billion and $1.24 billion, respectively.
Merck & Co. Inc.’s deal to pay $23 in cash for Harpoon Therapeutics, bringing the equity value to about $680 million, further invigorated the delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) development zone, where Amgen Inc. enjoys a lead with its prospect tarlatamab in the same class. DLL3 is an inhibitor ligand of the Notch pathway associated with tumorigenesis.
The zeal for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a prominent focus for dealmaking in 2023, shows no signs of waning, as Johnson & Johnson greeted attendees of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) with news of its $2 billion buyout of Ambrx Biopharma Inc., picking up rights to an ADC platform along with a promising candidate targeting advanced prostate cancer. Under the terms, J&J agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of San Diego-based Ambrx for $28 apiece, marketing a 105% premium to the firm’s Jan. 5 closing price. Unsurprisingly, Ambrx’s stock (NASDAQ:AMAM) gained 101.5% to close Jan. 8 at $27.47.
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