The zeal for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a prominent focus for dealmaking in 2023, shows no signs of waning, as Johnson & Johnson greeted attendees of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) with news of its $2 billion buyout of Ambrx Biopharma Inc., picking up rights to an ADC platform along with a promising candidate targeting advanced prostate cancer. Under the terms, J&J agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of San Diego-based Ambrx for $28 apiece, marketing a 105% premium to the firm’s Jan. 5 closing price. Unsurprisingly, Ambrx’s stock (NASDAQ:AMAM) gained 101.5% to close Jan. 8 at $27.47. Read More
Merck & Co. Inc.’s deal to pay $23 in cash for Harpoon Therapeutics, bringing the equity value to about $680 million, further invigorated the delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) development zone, where Amgen Inc. enjoys a lead with its prospect tarlatamab in the same class. DLL3 is an inhibitor ligand of the Notch pathway associated with tumorigenesis. Read More
Announcing two licensing deals with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG, Shanghai-based Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said on Jan. 7 that it stands to gain up to $4.165 billion for two of its cardiovascular assets combined. Marking the “first significant overseas out-licensing transaction in the RNAi field from a Chinese biotech company,” the deal includes an up-front payment of $185 million from Novartis to Argo. Read More
The 2024 edition of Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch features 13 drugs that highlight an inflection point where amazing, merging tech is finally paying off with ADCs and CRISPR/Cas9 and bispecifics, Matthew Arnold, principal analyst, Clarivate Life Sciences and Healthcare, told BioWorld. Read More
Biopharma firms collectively raised $70.97 billion in 2023, a welcome upturn of 17% from the $60.81 billion raised in 2022. Although falling short of the $118.29 billion raised in 2021 and $134.53 billion raised in 2020, by 40% and 47%, respectively, 2023 stands firmly in the third-highest place in BioWorld’s records going back to 2011. Read More
With its approval Jan. 5 of Florida’s drug importation program, the U.S. FDA ended a 23-year wait for the government to implement a 2000 provision allowing certain prescription drug imports from Canada. Read More
A company launched by Alphabet Inc.’s Deepmind in 2021, Isomorphic Labs Ltd., entered its first biopharmaceutical partnerships to discover small-molecule therapeutics with Eli Lilly and Co. and Novartis AG in deals worth $1.75 billion and $1.24 billion, respectively. Read More
Biopharmas raising money in public or private financings, including: Abeona, Atara, Arrivent, Arrowhead, Clarametyx, Cumulus, Metagenomi, Relay. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Applied, Asklepios, Boston, Curevac, Deciphera, Delta-Fly, Kiromic, Merck, Newron, Orion, Rivus, Verrica. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Coya, Faraday, Fusion, Journey, Menarini, Sana. Read More
