• By Deanna Kamienski, Beth Allan, Amanda Micklus, Steven Muntner, and Maureen Riordan
Derived from Strategic Transactions, a premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Tech Transfer Deals column provides a monthly review of licensing agreements between companies and universities or other research institutions in the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Device, and Pharmaceutical sectors. This month’s column covers deals announced September through October 2014.
After in-licensing a cardiovascular candidate last year, AstraZeneca has signed a strategic drug discovery alliance, which could generate billions of dollars in payments to the Chinese firm.
Deal Snapshot: Including its internal efforts with bimagrumab, Lilly has been seeking a muscle-sparing therapy to complement GLP-1 obesity drugs, such as Zepbound.
UroGen’s Zusduri was approved despite an advisory committee vote recommending against it in May. It is the first approved drug for a type of recurring bladder cancer.
Private Company Edition: Antares’ lead asset will enter the clinic in 2026 after Lilly committed up to $2.5bn for Scorpion’s Phase I/II PI3Kα inhibitor STX-478. Also, Amplify raised $200m for its first biotech VC fund and Mosanna raised an $80m series A round, among other financings.
