With its acquisition of Subintro Ltd., Rigimmune Inc. put a building block in place to further its development of stem-loop RNA therapeutics that selectively activate the innate immune sensor RIG-I. Subintro specializes in development and delivery of antiviral therapeutics for respiratory diseases caused by RNA viruses, including influenza, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2. Subintro’s technology allows the company to consider topical and nasal delivery.
The changes continue at GSK plc as the pharma giant stepped away from its NY-ESO cell therapy program in moves that touch two collaborators. The company is terminating its three-year partnership with Lyell Immunopharma Inc. to develop candidates targeting NY-ESO-1, including the second‑generation product candidates, Lyell’s genetic and epigenetic reprogramming technologies (LYL-132 and LYL-331), and some other second-generation approaches GSK was considering.
After more than two decades of working together, Genmab A/S has entered a new licensing agreement with Scancell Holdings plc to gain the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize an anti-glycan monoclonal antibody. All potential disease areas except cell therapy applications are on the table in the deal. Genmab will make an up-front payment of an undisclosed amount to Scancell as well as covering milestone payments of up to $208 million for each candidate that’s developed and commercialized. The amount is capped at $624 million to Scancell if Genmab manages to develop and commercialize products across all modalities the companies have defined. Scancell could also receive single-digit royalties on the net sales of products.
Astellas Pharma Inc. has invested $50 million in Taysha Gene Therapies Inc. in exchange for 15% of the company and exclusive options to in-license Taysha’s lead gene therapy candidates, TSHA-102 for Rett syndrome and TSHA-120 for giant axonal neuropathy.
Sumitovant Biopharma Ltd., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd., agreed to acquire Myovant Sciences Ltd. for $27 per share, up from its earlier offer of $22.75 per share, which Myovant had rebuffed. The deal is worth $1.7 billion on a fully diluted basis, with an equity value of about $2.59 billion.
Celltrion Healthcare Inc. has signed a deal with Pinotbio Inc. to develop antibody-drug conjugates for up to 15 separate cancer targets incorporating the linker-payload platform technology Pinot-ADC. Celltrion could pay Pinotbio as much as ₩1.77 trillion (US$1.24 billion) to exercise options for all 15 targets in the collaboration. But, for starters, it will pay Pinotbio ₩1 billion up front.
Inxmed Co. Ltd. has formed a partnership with Shanghai Huaota Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to combine the former’s IN-10018 and the latter’s HB-0030 for the treatment of solid tumors by jointly running preclinical studies and clinical trials.
In its first oncology licensing collaboration, Hookipa Pharma Inc. is partnering with Roche Holding AG to develop an arenaviral for treating KRAS-mutated cancers. Roche will pay $25 million up front to Hookipa, which could ultimately bring in about $930 million in milestone-based payments as part of the deal.
U.K.-based seed investor Lifearc Ventures is celebrating a second major deal from its portfolio of companies after Abbvie Inc. bought the tiny former “garage startup" DJS Antibodies Ltd. for $255 million up front plus undisclosed milestone payments. DJS’ lead program is DJS-002, a potential first-in-class lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 antagonist in preclinical studies for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic diseases.
Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. subsidiary Eucure Biopharma Co. Ltd. has formed a partnership with Syncromune Inc. to combine Eucure’s YH-002 and two other active ingredients with Syncromune’s Syncrovax platform technology in a deal the partners said could be worth “hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars,” including an up-front cash payment of undisclosed value.
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