Preempting a planned IPO by Peloton Therapeutics Inc., Merck & Co. Inc. has fielded a $2.2 billion buyout offer for the privately held drug developer, which has raised nearly $300 million to date. The proposal, including $1.05 billion in cash up front, would bring Merck at least two hypoxia inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2 alpha) antagonists, including Peloton's lead drug, PT-2977, a potential oral treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Reneo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company developing a PPAR delta agonist to treat genetically defined rare mitochondrial diseases, has completed a $50 million series A financing that it said will help support ongoing phase Ib trials of candidate REN-001, as well as other clinical and preclinical studies.
SHANGHAI – Comfort given isn't always comfort received, especially in the midst of volatility. But if attendees of the Chinabio Partnering Forum were open to it, they may have found a soothing message regarding the oft-disdained Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.: "CFIUS is not as scary as you may think," said Joseph Benkert, a senior advisor in Morrison & Foerster's National Security practice.
SHANGHAI – Despite a year in which China's venture investors raised a highest-ever $42.8 billion to invest in life sciences companies, deploying a record sum globally, superlatives about the nation's supersized investment activity can wear thin. Inviting a closer look, Chinabio Group founder and CEO Greg Scott enlisted a panel of key VCs to examine the unfolding dynamics during the Chinabio Partnering Forum.
Stockholm-based Karolinska Development AB said that top-line data from portfolio company Modus Therapeutics AB's phase II study of sevuparin did not show a meaningful benefit in the management of acute vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), sending company shares (Nasdaq Stockholm:KDEV) down 9.9% to SEK3.90 (US41 cents) Monday. Modus is now considering its options for further development of sevuparin in other indications where its multimodal action may have utility, said Viktor Drvota, CEO of Karolinska Development.
SHANGHAI – Despite a year in which China's venture investors raised a highest-ever $42.8 billion to invest in life sciences companies, deploying a record sum globally, superlatives about the nation's supersized investment activity can wear thin. Inviting a closer look, Chinabio Group founder and CEO Greg Scott enlisted a panel of key VCs to take a closer look at the unfolding dynamics during the second and final day of the Chinabio Partnering Forum.
SHANGHAI – Comfort given isn't always comfort received, especially in the midst of volatility. But if attendees of the Chinabio Partnering Forum were open to it, they may have found a soothing message regarding the oft-disdained Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.: "CFIUS is not as scary as you may think," said Joseph Benkert, a senior advisor in Morrison & Foerster's National Security practice.
SHANGHAI - Uncertainties over U.S.-China trade relations seem not to have stunted enthusiasm for partnering among a record crowd expected at this year's Chinabio Partnering Forum this week. The annual confab is expected to draw about 1,400 attendees, about 60% from China, with the rest about evenly split between participants from ex-China Asian countries and Western delegates representing U.S. and Europe.
SHANGHAI - Uncertainties over U.S.-China trade relations seem not to have stunted enthusiasm for partnering among a record crowd expected at this year's Chinabio Partnering Forum this week. The annual confab is expected to draw about 1,400 attendees, about 60% from China, with the rest about evenly split between participants from ex-China Asian countries and Western delegates representing U.S. and Europe.
Combioxin SA, a Geneva-based startup developing a non-antibiotic drug to trap and neutralize bacterial toxins, has successfully shown initial safety and efficacy for the therapy, CAL-02, in a phase I study of patients with severe community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia taking the experimental therapy along with an antibiotic.
