The digital ink is barely dry from Jan. 3’s $1 billion ADC deal with Medilink Therapeutics Co. Ltd. and another $1 billion agreement, this one with Remix Therapeutics Inc., but Roche Holding AG is writing another big check. The newest addition to its billion-dollar collaboration spree is with privately held Moma Therapeutics Inc. Read More
Umoja Biopharma Inc.’s gene delivery platform that combines a third-generation lentiviral vector gene approach with a novel T-cell targeting and activation surface complex brought Abbvie Inc. to the table for a pair of deals that could be worth as much as $1.44 billion. Read More
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s start to the new year includes two fresh deals across two continents. BI struck one deal with Kunshan, China-based Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its Mölndal, Sweden-based subsidiary, Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB, to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It struck a second deal with San Francisco-based 3T Biosciences Inc. to develop cancer immunotherapies, which builds on an earlier collaboration formed last year. Combined, the two deals are worth more than $2.5 billion. Read More
Following up on a 2021 partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Bridgene Biosciences Inc. has signed up a second international drug company, Galapagos NV, to use its chemoproteomic platform, IMTAC (Isobaric Mass Tagged Affinity Characterization), to discover small-molecule drug candidates. Read More
Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA has reported what it claims are “exceptional” results in the 12-month analysis of a phase II open-label trial of evenamide in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The glutamate modulator produced benefits “of a kind that have never been reported before,” the company said. Read More
Researchers have identified a new class of antibiotics that works by blocking the transportation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii. The most advanced member of the class, zosurabalpin (RG-6006, Roche AG), was effective against multiple A. baumannii strains, including carbapenem-resistant and multidrug-resistant strains. Read More
Modifying a patient’s DNA is no longer just for science fiction novels. The CRISPR gene editing technique developed by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier only took 10 years to reach the market as Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel/exa-cel, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.), treating congenital pathologies such as β-thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease. But science does not stop. Read More
A deal crafted in May 2022 between Novo Nordisk A/S and Flagship Pioneering has culminated into two separate research collaborations that are worth up to $532 million each in up-front and milestone payments for Omega Therapeutics Inc. and Cellarity Inc. Read More
Amid a flurry of dealmaking activity to start 2024, Allorion Therapeutics Inc., a 2020 startup based in Natick, Mass., and Guangzhou, China, has been extra busy. Two days after disclosing a potential $540 million deal with Astrazeneca plc, Allorion inked a licensing agreement with Avenzo Therapeutics Inc. that could total more than $1 billion. Read More
An FDA culture that discourages scientific disagreement with U.S. administration policies may be a perennial problem regardless of the party in power. That’s one of the between-the-lines takeaways from a Jan. 3 letter the Republican leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf – along with a stern warning that the agency had better respond in a timely manner. Read More
Are there other guidances the U.S. FDA should release as final without going through the draft and public comment process first? That’s one of the questions the FDA wants stakeholders to comment on as it updates its best practices for guidance. Read More
As industry gears up for the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference to kick off 2024, take a moment to review the successes and challenges that defined 2023. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry, including: 4D Molecular, Ashvattha, Evotec, Innate, Nexcella, Quris-AI, Rome, Zevra, Zymeworks. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Apertura, Boehringer Ingelheim, Coherus, Enara, Evotec, Inovio, Inspirna, LG Chem, Merck KGaA, Recursion, Rhythm, Sail. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Applied Therapeutics, Arch, Bridgebio, Inovio, Intensity, Invivyd, Melt, Obi. Read More
