Alzamend Neuro Inc.’s positive preclinical data for AL-002 sent the company’s stock (NADAQ:ALZN) more than 70% higher before the market opened July 23. The Tampa, Fla.-based biopharma is researching a mutant-peptide sensitized cell for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The positive data came from a GLP toxicology study using a transgenic mouse model.
In a deal that could bring Arvinas Inc. a potential $2.4 billion, the company will collaborate with Pfizer Inc. to develop and commercialize an oral estrogen receptor protein degrader. In addition to a potential $400 million in approval milestones and a possible $1 billion in commercial milestones, Arvinas will be paid $650 million up front by Pfizer, which will also make an equity investment of $350 million in Arvinas while receiving about 3.5 million newly issued Arvinas common stock shares. With the deal, Pfizer will have a 7% equity share in Arvinas. The two plan to equally divide development and commercialization costs as well as any profits.
Proceeds from Vedanta Biosciences Inc.’s just closed $68 million series D financing will be used for a phase III study of the company’s lead candidate, VE-303, composed of eight clonal human commensal bacterial strains to give colonization resistance for treating Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection, and also for a phase II study of VE-202, made up of 16 clonal human commensal bacterial strains for treating inflammatory bowel disease.
New preclinical data from Immunome Inc. gets the company closer to the clinic for studying its three-antibody cocktail’s effect on SARS-CoV-2. “We will file an IND this quarter and get into the clinic,” Immunome’s CEO, Purnanand Sarma, told BioWorld. “Since the number of cases is rising, unfortunately, we think a clinical study could be conducted reasonably quickly.”
Six weeks ahead of its PDUFA date, Kadmon Holdings Inc.’s NDA for Rezurock (belumosudil) has been approved to treat chronic graft-vs.-host disease. The selective oral inhibitor of Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase 2, a daily treatment for patients 12 and older after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy, is the New York-based company’s first approved therapy.
Three companies that began trading on Nasdaq on July 16 are contributing to this year’s record-setting pace of biotech IPOs. Erasca Inc., which is looking to raise $300 million, led the pack with shares (NASDAQ:ERAS) ending the day at $17.43, an 8.94% rise from the opening asking price of $16.
Private biopharma investment in 2021 continues to outpace that of the past two years as two gene therapy companies, Shape Therapeutics Inc. and Kriya Therapeutics Inc., posted series B financings this week totaling more than $200 million.
Following November’s equity investment that brought it a 14% ownership in Protomer Technologies Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. has acquired the privately held company engineering protein and peptide therapeutics that sense molecular activators. If development and commercial milestones are met, the deal could be worth more than $1 billion.
All the primary endpoints were met in Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase IIa trial of CRV-431 for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The market, however, wasn’t celebrating as the Edison, N.J.-based company’s stock (NASDAQ:HEPA) sagged 15.27% on July 13 to close at $1.72 per share.
Novo Nordisk A/S has acquired a clinical-stage humanized monoclonal antibody and transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) program in a deal that could bring Prothena Corp. plc potential development and sales milestone payments of up to $1.2 billion. Also in the agreement, Dublin-based Prothena brings in $100 million in up-front and near-term clinical milestones payments as Novo gets full worldwide rights to the intellectual property and related rights of Prothena’s ATTR amyloidosis business and pipeline.
