After a shaky start to the year, Autolus Therapeutics plc has revived its fortunes, with Blackstone Life Sciences investing up to $250 million to fund its CAR T-cell technology and lead product targeting acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Eli Lilly and Co. has withdrawn a filing for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail in Europe after health authorities backed rivals – the day after a $1.29 billion purchase of the same medicines from the U.S. government. Indianapolis-based Lilly began filing data from the combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab in March to enable a fast authorization by the European Medicines Agency.
Merck & Co. Inc. has signed a potential $1 billion research tie-up with Synthekine Inc. to develop engineered cytokines to fight autoimmune diseases, as its $11.5 billion merger with Acceleron Pharma Inc. hit a regulatory speed bump.
It’s all systems “go” for Travere Therapeutics Inc. and its sparsentan after meetings with the FDA paved the way for filings and potential accelerated approvals in the rare kidney disease IgA nephropathy and the kidney scarring condition focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
A phase III trial of Rafael Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s devimistat in pancreatic cancer has failed, sending shares in its publicly listed holding company through the floor. Shares in Rafael Holdings (NYSE:RFL) closed Oct. 28 down 73% to $8.09, for a loss of $22.08 after an independent data monitoring committee also recommended a separate phase III trial of devimistat in acute myeloid leukemia should be stopped due to lack of efficacy.
Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG and Denali Therapeutics Inc. have expanded a central nervous system research partnership as the gene silencing field heats up.
Novartis AG has had another setback in its attempt to get canakinumab to work in oncology, after the interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) inhibitor flunked a phase III trial in first-line advanced lung cancer.
Aicuris Anti-Infective Cures AG has expanded an antibacterial collaboration with Lysando AG to focus on a topical treatment for diabetic foot infections, based around technology that attacks bacteria using specially-designed molecules based on phage proteins.
There’s a whole group of biotechs trying to create a tougher next-generation CAR T-cell therapy that could have a powerful effect on solid tumors after the technology’s first successes in blood cancer. One of those is London-based Leucid Bio Ltd., which has just raised £11.5 million (nearly US$16 million) in series A financing to develop next-generation CAR T therapies that are able to make it through to solid tumors and attack them.
With only three bispecific antibodies on the market, potential for the technology remains largely untapped. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Biotech Inc. is trying to change that. In a new deal with U.K.-based F-star Therapeutics Inc., it’s seeking develop a new generation of bispecifics for undisclosed targets.
