Strategy
UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.
The development could highlight the power of competitive market forces over government price controls or suggest Medicare price negotiation is enhancing competitive market forces.
Amvuttra will target a substantially larger patient population with a new indication, but it is third to market behind Pfizer’s Vyndaqel and Bridge Bio’s Attruby and will cost more.
Paratek agrees to acquire Optinose in a “take-private” deal valued at $330m, adding chronic rhinosinusitis product Xhance to its antibiotic Nuzyra.
The France-based giant inks a transaction potentially worth around $1.9bn to get hold of Dren Bio’s autoimmune disease treatment DR-0201.
Miltenyi’s leadership calls for a streamlined regulatory framework as India gears to scale in cell and gene therapy. Executives from the German group also talked to Scrip about helping advance local capabilities, delivering point-of-care CAR- T cell therapy to hospitals and pricing dynamics.
Servier takes a Phase I rationally designed cancer candidate for $70m up front, while Black Diamond will wait on more mature data for its Phase II lead candidate in lung cancer.
The company’s Immunovant announced positive data from a Phase III trial in myasthenia gravis but the focus is on next-generation drug IMVT-1402.
CEO Carlos Gallardo tells Scrip the Barcelona-based group has laid the foundations to advance four promising assets that have considerable potential for a variety of dermatological diseases.
Amgen’s AI model to predict proteins in the “bright Goldilocks zone of viscosity” with over 80% accuracy minus a wet lab experiment holds immense potential, VP Research Haldar said at an event as he spoke about a “hinge moment” for AI in pharma
The Biovelocita II fund is supported by the likes of Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer
Incyte’s JAK1 inhibitor meets the primary endpoint in two Phase III hidradenitis suppurativa trials, but the drug may not be able to supplant established biologic therapies.
The company sees potential for the GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonist in MASH as well as alcohol-related liver disease as hopes to move pemvidutide into Phase III in obesity with a partner.
Plus deals involving Hyundai/Pharma/Avelos, Yuhan/Boehringer Ingelheim, SciClone/Eisai, Viatris/Nxera/Idorsia, Nxera/Holling and Takeda/BridGene.
A joint venture with AI specialist Hologen will bring in much-needed cash for the ambitious gene therapy firm.
A stake acquisition in US venture Illexcor allows India's Zydus to get in on the ground floor for a potential once-daily sickle cell disease treatment. The candidate showed promising preclinical results in a field that has yielded mixed outcomes for global majors like Novartis, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk
Both vexed by bankruptcies and opioid litigation, Endo and Mallinckrodt will merge in a deal valued at $6.7bn. The new company will spin out its generics and sterile injectable business.
CEO Adam Steensberg has led a major change in fortunes for the Danish biotech since March 2022.
Ono agreed to pay $280m up front for global rights to Ionis’s Phase II polycythemia vera candidate, which analysts say was de-risked by recent data reported for other PV drugs.
Scrip senior writer Joseph Haas discusses recent industry merger-and-acquisition activity with attorneys Jessica Bisignano and Gabrielle Witt of Hogan Lovells.