Eli Lilly and Co. tapped Lycia Therapeutics Inc. in a potential $1.6 billion-plus protein-degradation deal that brings $35 million up front and the remainder in would-be preclinical, development and commercial milestone payments, along with mid-single to low double-digit royalties. The multiyear research tie-up and licensing agreement strives to discover, develop and commercialize targeted therapeutics based on Lycia's lysosomal targeting chimera, or Lytac, technology. Read More
Vigencell Inc., a company focused on immune cell therapy, raised ₩99.4 (US$85.17 million) through an IPO on South Korea’s Kosdaq board and plans to use the funds to drive its R&D and company operations. “We particularly want to increase the competitiveness of our pipeline by advancing our technology and clinical development,” Vigencell CEO Tai-Gyu Kim told BioWorld. “We will also expand our discovery of new candidates and R&D in general, as well as updating our facilities and hiring researchers.” Read More
DUBLIN – Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH has closed a €64 million (US$75 million) series B round, enabling it to move its lead micro-RNA (miRNA) inhibitor program into late-stage development in heart failure. The financing sets the stage for a potential revival of a therapeutic modality that had otherwise fallen out of favor with investors and with big pharma. Read More
Brii Biosciences Ltd. made strides toward getting its SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibody combination therapy, BRII-196/BRII-198, to market with positive interim phase III data that show high-risk outpatients may benefit from the combination therapy up to 10 days following symptom onset. Read More
Johnson & Johnson has announced new data supporting use of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot, after separate trial data from the U.K. showed effects of several vaccines waned after six months. Read More
The family trees of different cell types from different tissues and organs have been traced back to the fertilized egg that gave rise to the human body of which the cells formed a part, establishing a baseline for “normal” development and aging that could help improve understanding of the onset of disease. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry, including: Adamis, Applied Molecular Transport, Enterin, Neoimmunetech, Recordati, Renovacor, Visus. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Adjuvance, Awakn, Cartesian, Eom, Meiji, Nouscom, Novartis, Oramed, Oncotelic, Regeneron, Reistone, Sorrento, Theravance, Timber. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: AB, Abbvie, Alimera, Antengene, Avidity, Bio-Path, Cara, Cardiol, Cassava, Celltrion, Humanetics, Immunocore, Index, Janssen, Polarityte, PTC, Roche, Stealth, Tonix, Vifor. Read More
