Chiasma Inc. disclosed its plan to merge with Amryt plc in an all-stock transaction that exchanges each Chiasma share for 0.396 American depositary share of Amryt. The latter closed May 4 at $12.95, so the deal values Chiasma at $5.13 per share, noted Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff. Chiasma’s stock (NASDAQ:CHMA) rose $1.41, almost 50%, to trade midday at $4.25. Peak revenue for the new Amryt could total $1 billion, as the combined firm – of which Chiasma shareholders will own about 40% – will have three approved products. Tenthoff downgraded his rating on Chiasma to neutral from overweight and reduced the price target to $5 from $15.

Eikon Therapeutics raises $148M series A with Perlmutter at helm

Eikon Therapeutics Inc., a California startup leveraging advanced optics and machine learning to track protein dynamics for drug discovery, has closed a $148 million series A financing. Led by a high profile CEO, former Merck & Co. Inc. R&D chief Roger Perlmutter, and with the counsel of two Nobel prize winners, its team is working to "expand the druggable proteome by targeting protein dynamics directly." The Column Group led the round with participation from Foresite Capital, Innovation Endeavors and Lux Capital.

No spark for biopharmas in April

The rocky first quarter for public biopharmaceutical companies continued into April, as the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index remained flat for the period in contrast to the general market with the Dow Jones Industrial Average growing by over 2%. Weighing on the sector has been softer-than-expected earnings in the period among the top tier companies.

China accelerates drug approvals, development since joining ICH

Since joining the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) in 2017, China has approved clinical trials and marketing of drugs a lot faster with simultaneous clinical development at home and abroad, according to China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) officials in a webinar on April 29.

Déjà vu sets in with Special 301 Report

The 2021 Special 301 Report recently released by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is mostly déjà vu for the 32 countries included on the Priority Watch and Watch Lists, as all of them have appeared before on the lists that call out U.S. trading partners for unfair intellectual property practices that disadvantage foreign companies.

Social media not ready for prime time as source of real-world evidence

The FDA’s May 4 webinar on patient data generated over the course of the product life cycle covered a number of topics, including the use of social media as a source of real-world evidence (RWE). The FDA’s Anne Hammer said, however, that while social media engagement has exploded over the past couple of decades, issues such as data duplication and verifiability will have to be resolved before patient engagement via social media can be relied upon as a source of RWE for regulatory purposes.

Also in the news

4D Molecular, Adagio, Alchemab, Alligator, Amgen, Ascletis, Astrazeneca, Athenex, Bridgene, Catalyst, Celularity, Cerecor, Cocrystal, Corvus, Cytodyn, Dancann, Day One, Enesi, Errant Gene, Esker, GC, Genascence, Genprex, GW, Hoth, Ibio, Jazz, Kuur, Leadgen Labs, Mindmed, Mydecine, Neoleukin, Nervgen, Nicox, Olix, Oncopeptides, PCI, Replimune, Resverlogix, Roche, Sanofi, Servier, Summit, Supernus, Takara, Tarsus, Tetra, Tilt, Tiziana, Vaccitech, Valneva, Vivace