DUBLIN – Sanofi SA is investing €80 million (US$90.8 million) in Biontech AG as part of an extension of an existing alliance to develop synthetic mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies. Mainz, Germany-based Biontech will spend that cash – and a lot more besides – on a shared clinical development program, having exercised an option to co-develop with Paris-based Sanofi the lead candidate therapy from the five-product deal.
DUBLIN – Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH will have a full dance card when it shows up in San Francisco for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference this week. The young German biotech is attracting plenty of big pharma interest for its lead program, a microRNA (miRNA)-targeting oligonucleotide in development for heart failure, which is entering a first-in-human phase Ib trial in patients shortly.
DUBLIN – Investors in Molecular Partners AG received a much-needed boost Wednesday as the company entered an immuno-oncology collaboration with Amgen to develop its preclinical multispecific Darpin molecule MP0310, in return for $50 million up front and up to $497 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered double-digit royalties on product sales.
DUBLIN – Staten Biotechnology BV could earn as much as €430 million (US$488.1 million) in up-front, R&D and milestone payments from an option and acquisition agreement with Novo Nordisk A/S involving STT-5058, its preclinical antibody-based inhibitor of apolipoprotein C III (apoC-III), which regulates blood triglyceride levels.
DUBLIN – Versant Ventures raised $700 million across two new venture capital funds to continue its early stage investing in innovative biotechnology firms. In addition to its core $600 million fund, Versant Venture Capital VII, it has also raised a $100 million companion fund, Versant Voyageurs I, which will co-invest in Canadian firms the primary fund is also backing.
DUBLIN – Remynd NV raised €12 million (US$13.6 million) in a series B round that will enable it to move a first-in-class modulator of intracellular calcium levels into clinical development in Alzheimer's disease.
DUBLIN – AC Immune SA's distinctive approach to addressing drug targets associated with Alzheimer's disease has secured more big pharma validation, in the form of a mammoth license agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. covering its preclinical portfolio of small-molecule tau aggregation inhibitors. Lausanne, Switzerland-based AC Immune is banking CHF80 million (US$80.6 million) up front, another CHF50 million from a loan-to-equity instrument and an expected CHF60 million in near-term milestones. It could also earn up to CHF1.7 billion more in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as tiered low double-digit royalties on product sales.
DUBLIN – Black Diamond Therapeutics Inc., the latest startup to emerge from the Versant Ventures stable, raised $20 million in a series A round to progress a novel platform for tackling a category of cancers that earlier generations of targeted therapies have failed to address.
DUBLIN – Mereo Biopharma plc will gain a Nasdaq listing, an estimated $38 million in cash and a U.S. facility by acquiring Oncomed Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a stock-based listing that values the latter at $57 million. It will also gain an early stage clinical oncology pipeline that could unlock downstream value. It also hopes to retain key Oncomed personnel with clinical development and regulatory affairs experience.
DUBLIN – Shares in Argenx NV rose as much as 15 percent Monday on news of an oncology license agreement with the Cilag GmbH International arm of Johnson & Johnson involving its CD70-directed antibody cusatuzumab, in which it is receiving $300 million up front plus another $200 million as equity investment. Argenx could also receive up to $1.3 billion more in development, regulatory and sales milestones, while retaining the right to co-promote the drug in the U.S on a 50/50 basis. It would receive tiered double-digit royalties on ex-U.S. sales.
