DUBLIN – Gene therapy pioneer Ron Crystal, of Weill Cornell Medical College, is deepening his involvement in Annapurna Therapeutics SAS (formerly AAVLife SAS), the French gene therapy firm he co-founded, by licensing to the company three development programs that are already under way at Weill Cornell's Department of Genetic Medicine.
DUBLIN – Symphogen A/S and Baxalta Inc. jointly made a major statement of intent in immuno-oncology, with an alliance focused on up to six immune checkpoint targets, under which Symphogen is getting $175 million up front plus up to $1.6 billion more in option fees and milestone payments.
DUBLIN – Crowdfunding and drug repurposing are two current buzz topics in biotech, and it is not difficult to see how the former could be harnessed in support of the latter. Spanish firm Som Biotech SL, however, is discovering that logic alone is not sufficient to guarantee a successful campaign.
DUBLIN – Will tempol, a tool compound long used for its intracellular antioxidant effects, prove to be of clinical benefit to patients with cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM)?
DUBLIN – Medigene AG is getting a slice of the action from sales of Amgen Inc.’s pioneering oncolytic virus therapy Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), in an intellectual property licensing deal involving its spin-off company Catherex Inc., which Amgen is acquiring for $10.5 million up front plus regulatory and sales-based milestones, as well as single-digit royalty payments on Imlygic sales.
DUBLIN – Bavarian Nordic A/S is banking $9 million up front and could get up to $162 million more in milestone payments from a new partnership with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals arm to develop a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
DUBLIN – Gilead Sciences Inc., is stepping in where Abbvie Inc. stepped out, laying down a whopping $725 million, with up to $1.35 billion more to come in milestones, for rights to Galapagos NV's Janus kinase 1 (JAK1)-selective inhibitor filgotinib (GLPG0634).
DUBLIN – Pharnext SAS is embarking on a pivotal phase III trial of its lead drug cocktail, PXT-3003, in patients with the inherited progressive neuromuscular disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A.
DUBLIN – Seventure Partners has added Novartis AG as an investor in a new closing of its Health for Life Capital fund, taking the total to €160 million (US$175 million). It’s further evidence that big pharma is taking this emerging sector seriously.
DUBLIN – In a busy end-of-year round of dealmaking, Versant Ventures has backed two new start-ups, Montreal-based Inception IBD, which has closed a $14.1 million series A round and could get up to $40 million more in research funding from build-to-buy partner Celgene Corp., and Kyras Therapeutics Inc., Versant's first New York-based venture, which has raised an undisclosed sum to embark on a new approach to target Ras, that most elusive of cancer targets.
