The first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger announced in 2023 has fallen apart. Aprinoia Therapeutics Inc. and Ross Acquisition Corp. II mutually agreed to call off the merger that had been valued at $280 million. The failed deal is part of a larger trend that has gained momentum in the past year as a struggling economy and tighter U.S. SEC restrictions dampened SPAC deals. Read More
Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S has struck a deal with Royalty Pharma for $500 million, capital it plans to plough into achieving a successful launch of its approved bladder cancer gene therapy, Adstiladrin (nadofaragene firadenovec), in the U.S., as well as enabling it to upgrade and expand its manufacturing sites. Read More
Opthea Ltd. plans to raise AU$80 million (US$51.2 million) via a AU$10 million private placement and a AU$70 million entitlement offer to continue its pivotal phase III trials in wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) for lead candidate OPT-302. Read More
A nonsteroidal eye drop formulation of dazdotuftide, TRS-01 missed its late-stage primary endpoint for controlling inflammation in uveitis, but developer Tarsier Pharma Ltd. said post-hoc analysis showing a boosted benefit-risk profile over steroids may be a ray of hope. Read More
Apollomics Inc.’s business combination this spring with Maxpro Capital Acquisition Corp., along with data that emerged from competitors Merck KGaA and Johnson & Johnson during the more recent American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, shone a spotlight on continuing efforts to develop mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (cMET) inhibitors. Read More
Guests Karen Carey, BioWorld’s managing editor, and Mike Ward, Clarivate’s global head of Life Sciences and Healthcare Thought Leadership, discuss the deals, financing and M&A landscape for the first half of 2023 and how U.K. biopharmas are faring post Brexit. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: ABVC, Bionomics, Genentech, Longboard, Lynk, Oncotelic, Recce, Relmada, Transcode. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Abata, Aicuris, Can-Fite, Ceramedix, Inhibikase, Merck & Co., Orizuru, Peptigrowth, SK Bioscience, Vaxxas, XNK . Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: BMS, Dizal, Immix, Nexcella, Pfizer. Read More
