In its first major deal, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. is partnering with Japanese biopharmaceutical firm Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. to discover, develop and commercialize drug delivery systems and siRNA medications using Dicerna's Dicer Substrate Technology for undisclosed oncology targets. (BioWorld Today)

WASHINGTON - Elusys Therapeutics Inc. won a five-year contract potentially worth $143 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance the development of the company's inhalational anthrax antitoxin Anthim, a high-affinity deimmunized monoclonal antibody. (BioWorld Today)

WASHINGTON - As the health reform legislation faces the difficult compromise road ahead during the upcoming conference process in January, little is expected to change with the measures affecting biotech, including the provisions to create a pathway for approval of follow-on biologics (FOBs). (BioWorld Today)

As predicted last week by analysts, Seattle Genetics Inc. landed a cozy global development and commercialization deal for its Hodgkin's lymphoma drug brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35), potentially worth more than $365 million, including $60 million up front, plus tiered double-digit royalties, which Needham & Co. analyst Mark Monane called a "nice warm deal as the weather gets colder." (BioWorld Today)