In its largest acquisition to date, Incyte Inc. snagged rights to phase III-stage VGA-039, a monoclonal antibody the firm said could offer a new standard of care in von Willebrand disease (VWD), in a buyout of Vega Therapeutics Inc. that includes a $1.25 billion up-front payment and up to $750 million tied to the achievement of sales milestones. The announcement was followed shortly by news of another buyout, Johnson & Johnson’s deal to acquire Firefly Bio Inc. for $1 billion in cash, both moves continuing this year’s trend of larger, more strategic M&A transactions. Read More
Building on its partnerships with Gilead Sciences Inc., Sanofi SA and Pfizer Inc., Nurix Therapeutics Inc. brought on Roche Holding AG to help develop bexobrutideg, an oral degrader of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). “I really can’t think of a better partner to maximize the opportunity for bexobrutideg to a wide range of patients,” Jason Kantor, Nurix’s chief business officer, told investors on a conference call, later pointing out that Roche has multiple drugs targeting B cells. Read More
Tango Therapeutics Inc. will be sitting down with the U.S. FDA soon to discuss pivotal work ahead based on what Cantor analyst Eric Schmidt called “amazing” data from the phase I/II study of vopimetostat, a PRMT5 inhibitor, paired with Revolution Medicines Inc.’s RAS(ON) inhibitors in patients with MTAP-deleted and RAS-mutant metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as well as non-small cell lung cancer. Read More
The recent introduction of the bipartisan Biotech Investment National Security Act in the U.S. House has industry and venture capitalists urging lawmakers to take a breath, step back, and consider a less invasive approach than restricting U.S. biopharma deals with Chinese innovators. Read More
Extracellular matrix specialist Engitix Ltd. is teaming up with GSK plc to delve into the mechanisms underlying regression of fibrosis after treatment for chronic liver disease, and identify and validate new drug targets involved in this process. Read More
Modulating G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is one of the major challenges in biomedicine. These are flexible proteins with small, deep binding pockets. The scientific community has explored small molecules, antibodies and nanobodies to develop ligands. Skape Bio Inc. is betting on creating miniproteins, a strategy that brings precise solutions for different functions. Read More
Clinical updates for biopharma and med tech, including data readouts and publications: Amneal, Azafaros, Bayer, Climb, Diakonos, H. Lundbeck, Innocare, Mezzion, Otsuka, Travere. Read More
Biopharma and med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Gilead, Fulcrum, Lakefront, Medtronic, Ouro, Photocure, Retia, Vesica. Read More
Regulatory snapshots for biopharma and med tech, including global submissions and approvals, and other regulatory decisions and designations: Chiesi, Lupin, Tandem. Read More
