The EU has given the go ahead for a large-scale transnational project that will invest €6.9 billion (US$7.45 billion) to address unmet medical need and fill gaps across the pharmaceutical value chain.
Japanese industrial conglomerate Asahi Kasei Corp. has made an offer to acquire Swedish rare diseases specialist Calliditas Therapeutics AB for SEK11.8 billion (US$1.1 billion). The offer, at an 83% premium to the closing share price of SEK113.60 on Monday, May 27, is recommended by the three biggest shareholders and the board of Calliditas, which said the company would benefit from “being part of a larger platform.”
Grey Wolf Therapeutics Ltd. added $50 million to its series B, bringing the total for the round to $99 million and providing funding to expand the scope of an ongoing phase I/II trial of its lead antigen modulation program.
The world’s largest and most comprehensive repository of somatic mutations found in cancer is celebrating its 20th birthday by adding 307,000 new genomic variants to its 24 million-strong database. With somatic mutations being the main drivers of tumor development, the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) is firmly established as a source of potential drug targets, for the discovery and validation of biomarkers associated with prognosis, treatment response and patient outcomes, and as a resource for characterizing the mutational landscape of individual tumors.
Pheon Therapeutics Ltd. is poised to start the first of three clinical trials of its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), after closing a $120 million series B. The company is taking a “three-pronged approach” in order to stake out as much of the ground as it can for its next-generation ADC, which delivers an in-house-designed topoisomerase inhibitor to a novel undisclosed transmembrane protein target.
Newco Commit Biologics ApS has arrived on the scene after raising €16 million (US$17.2 million) in a seed round to advance bispecific antibodies that are designed to activate the complement system and direct it to selectively kill cancer cells.
AC Immune SA has landed a potential $2.2 billion deal for its anti-amyloid beta Alzheimer’s disease vaccine, ACI-24.060, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., under which it will get $100 million up front and is eligible to receive an option exercise fee, plus potential development, commercial and sales-based milestones of up to $2.1 billion.
AC Immune SA has landed a potential $2.2 billion deal for its anti-amyloid beta Alzheimer’s disease vaccine, ACI-24.060, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., under which it will get $100 million up front and is eligible to receive an option exercise fee, plus potential development, commercial and sales-based milestones of up to $2.1 billion.
The U.K.’s world-first subscription model for antimicrobials is to be expanded following a successful pilot scheme in which companies are being paid a fixed annual fee for their drugs, regardless of the volume dispensed.
Newco Commit Biologics ApS has arrived on the scene after raising €16 million (US$17.2 million) in a seed round to advance bispecific antibodies that are designed to activate the complement system and direct it to selectively kill cancer cells.
