Systimmune Inc. and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. have joined hands in a co-development deal for bispecific antibody drug conjugate (ADC) BL-B01D1 in a deal worth up to $8.4 billion. The deal falls on the heels of BMS acquiring Mirati Therapeutics in October 2023 for $4.8 billion to add to its oncology pipeline.
Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. will partner with South Korean biotech Intocell Inc. to develop antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drugs, continuing the Samsung Group and the wider industry’s hunt for novel ADCs. Under the joint research agreement inked on Dec. 5, the Daejon-based ADC platform technology firm Intocell will supply the Songdo, Incheon-based Samsung Bioepis its linker technology, coined OHPAS, or ortho-hydroxy protected aryl sulfate, upon which Samsung Bioepis will develop ADC drugs for up to five cancer targets.
Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has out-licensed China rights to its colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor, pimicotinib, to Merck KGaA in a deal worth up to $605.5 million. Pimicotinib is in phase III trials in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors in China, the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd. has been seeking a partner for its atopic dermatitis candidate rademikibart, and it appears to have found the perfect partner in Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, which gains exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize rademikibart in China in a deal worth $120 million plus royalties.
South Korean pharmaceutical Voronoi Inc. said that New Jersey-based Pyramid Biosciences Inc. terminated its previous $846 million deal for Voronoi’s solid and breast cancer drug candidate, VRN-08, in a letter dated Oct. 24, 2023.
Doubling efforts to thaw the global biotech capital freeze, the U.S. branch of Shanghai-based Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. will ramp up investment into U.S. clinical-stage assets through a new joint investment vehicle with American health care advisory firm Treehill Partners.
Two-year-old Ensem Therapeutics Inc. landed a deal potentially worth $1.33 billion, if all milestones are met, with Beigene Ltd. to advance its lead IND-ready oral cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) inhibitor. Beigene, which has a presence in Basel, Switzerland, Beijing, and Cambridge, Mass., plans to fold the inhibitor into its breast cancer efforts, which includes its internally discovered phase I CDK4 inhibitor. Rights to the Ensem product are exclusive and global.
Legend Biotech Corp. is entering what it no doubt hopes will be another fruitful collaboration with big pharma. Legend’s wholly owned subsidiary, Legend Biotech Ireland Ltd., will work with Novartis AG in an exclusive global development and license agreement for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies targeting DLL3.
October marked a historic milestone for the biopharma industry, with deal values hitting $44.91 billion. It was the highest amount ever recorded by BioWorld, topping a deal value of $42.45 billion in December 2022. While the cumulative value of biopharma deals through Q3 lagged behind the previous year, October’s outstanding value has catapulted this year ahead. In the first 10 months of 2023, deal value reached $175.2 billion, compared to $148.56 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.
South Korea’s Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceuticals Corp. said that it struck a deal potentially worth $1.3 billion with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG for its CKD-510 candidate for neurological and cardiovascular diseases, propelling its shares upward 26.11% by market closing of Nov. 6. With the “largest ever” deal in its history, shares of the Seoul-based pharmaceutical (KOSPI:185750) on the Korea Exchange rose by 26.11%, or ₩26,500, closing at ₩128,000 ($98.70).
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