Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Arch, Frame Bio, Hillevax, Innate, Lipdro, Mercury Bio, Theratechnologies, Tonix, Xoma.
As Wall Street awaits phase IIb data from Kala Bio Inc. with KPI-012 in persistent corneal epithelial defect, odds are being weighed for that candidate – and others in development – against the lone approved treatment used in a market already worth more than $1 billion.
Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Co. LLC announced, in after-market hours Sept. 17, an agreement to forge a new company called Kalexo Bio Inc. and load the biotech with a preclinical dyslipidemia asset via a potential $1 billion global license deal.
Patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM) treated with Carsgen Therapeutics Holdings Ltd.’s CAR T therapy, zevorcabtagene autoleucel (zevor-cel, CT-053), have shown durable responses lasting nearly five years.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a few other medical professional groups were no-shows at the Sept. 18 meeting of the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. The absence of the liaison groups was noted, especially that of the AAP. In opening the two-day meeting, ACIP Chair Martin Kulldorff said he lamented that the AAP has ended its association with the committee.
Shape Therapeutics Inc. could bring in as much as $1.2 billion in a new option and license deal with Vectory Therapeutics BV. It’s another collaboration for both companies that are known for working with large and small pharmas. Vectory is getting the exclusive option to evaluate Shape’s brain-penetrating adeno-associated virus capsid, SHP-DB1, against three targets, including mHTT, TDP-43 for Huntington’s disease and phosphorylated tau for Alzheimer’s disease.
The dash for MASH is gaining momentum, with Roche AG acquiring 89bio Inc. and its phase III FGF21 analogue, pegozafermin, for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, in a deal worth up to $3.5 billion. The Swiss pharma is to pay $14.50 per share, valuing San Francisco-based 89Bio at $2.4 billion, a premium of approximately 52% to 89bio’s 60-day average price on Sept. 17, 2025. Shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) gained $6.88, or 85%, to close Sept. 18 at $14.96.
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