Novartis AG is bolstering its radioligand arsenal with the takeout of Mariana Oncology Inc. for $1 billion up front and as much as $750 million in potential milestone payments. Watertown, Mass.-based Mariana has developed peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals targeting solid tumors. The company’s lead program, MC-339, is a radioligand approach to small-cell lung cancer, due to enter the clinic later this year. Read More
Achieving proof of concept and a substantial clinical benefit with its PARP inhibitor stenoparib in advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, Allarity Therapeutics Inc. stopped a phase II trial and is preparing for a registrational study for what is now the company’s only internal drug candidate. Read More
By now, the story of last year’s dismal U.S. capital markets is hardly news. But when combined with increasing regulatory stresses, especially for biopharma and med-tech startups, there are elements of that story giving some Street-watchers pause, even as the market begins to show a few signs of recovery. Read More
Ending a late 2021 deal that was potentially worth billions, Moderna Inc. and Metagenomi Inc. are going their separate ways. The two had been collaborating on gene-editing R&D to develop therapies for treating serious genetic diseases. Moderna said it agreed with Metagenomi to end the deal as “Moderna continues to strategically prioritize its research and development investments.” Read More
South Korea’s HK Inno.N Corp. said on May 2 that it gained exclusive development and commercial rights to Hangzhou, China-based Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly, injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, XW-003 (ecnoglutide), in South Korea to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry, including: Aprea, Iktos, Immunome, Ipsen, Journey Medical, Nvelop, PDS, Pluri, Rentschler, Shape, Vicinitas. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Abcellera, Biomed, Denovo, Luxa, Merck & Co., Mindbio. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Boehringer, Ellipses, Eluminex, Janssen, Neurocrine. Read More
