Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Alnylam, Astrazeneca, Caris, Compugen, Eli Lilly, Medi&Gene, Norgine, Protalix, Roche, Secarna, Vir, Vyne, Yarrow.
The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index extended its autumn rally after a more modest September, finishing November up 23.41% for the year. The gain lagged the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which surged 34.97% in the first 11 months of the year, but outpaced the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 12.16% in the same period.
Insilico Medicine Inc. plans to raise HK$2.27 billion (US$292 million) in its IPO on the Hong Kong Securities Exchange to advance its clinical pipeline and invest further in generative AI and automated laboratories.
Rznomics Inc. continued South Korea’s year-end biotech rally with a ₩46.35 billion (US$31.35 million) IPO Dec. 18. Proceeds will fund Seongnam-si, South Korea-based Rznomic’s pipeline of gene therapies, built on the company’s trans-splicing ribozyme RNA Replacement Enzyme technology platform.
Eli Lilly and Co. took another step toward adding a way for patients to hang onto their weight loss when the firm disclosed positive top-line data from the phase III Attain-Maintain trial with orforglipron, a once-daily oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist. Indianapolis-based Lilly said that at one year orforglipron met the primary and all key secondary endpoints vs. placebo, delivering superior weight maintenance as an adjunct to a healthy diet and physical activity, using the efficacy estimand and modified treatment-regimen estimand.