Systimmune Inc. and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. have joined hands in a co-development deal for bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) BL-B01D1 in a deal worth up to $8.4 billion. The deal falls on the heels of BMS acquiring Mirati Therapeutics in October 2023 for $4.8 billion to add to its oncology pipeline.

C4 and Merck make a $2.5B DAC deal

Degrader-antibody conjugates (DAC) are at the heart of the new deal between C4 Therapeutics Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. C4 will get $10 million up front, milestones that could total $600 million and about $2.5 billion across the entire collaboration. The two companies will develop DACs to treat an undisclosed oncology target. Merck has the option to add three additional targets, decisions that eventually could bring C4’s take into the billions. Merck is responsible for antibody conjugation to create the DACs. C4’s stock (NASDAQ:CCCC) was getting a solid boost at midday, with shares trading 105% higher at $2.42 each.

Icosavax snatched by Astrazeneca in $1.1B deal

Astrazeneca plc is taking over Icosavax Inc. in a potential $1.1 billion agreement, news of which sent the latter's stock (NASDAQ:ICVX) up $5.11, or 48%, to trade midday at $15.60. Astrazeneca will pay $15 per share in cash plus a non-tradable contingent value right to receive up to $5, payable upon achievement of specified regulatory and net sales milestones. The up-front money represents an equity value of about $838 million and a 43% premium over Icosavax’s closing market price on Dec. 11 and a 73% premium to Icosavax’s volume-weighted average price for the preceding 60 trading days. A subsidiary of Astrazeneca will be merged with Icosavax, of Seattle.

ASH 2023: Syndax makes a splash

It’s not every day you see a small drug company’s presentations get picked for both the plenary session and the late-breaker session of a conference, but Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. managed to do just that at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting 2023 – with a little help from a friend. Syndax made a splash on the third day of the conference with axatilimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CSF-1R, in chronic graft-vs.-host disease and followed it up with a presentation of revumenib, a menin inhibitor, on the final day of the conference.

ASH 2023: NK cells championed as way to trifecta of fast, cheap, good – with engineering help

Katy Rezvani received this year’s E. Donnall Thomas Prize for her work on natural killer (NK) cells at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

ASH 2023: Multiple new dosing regimens for multiple myeloma

Multiple studies at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting 2023 have the potential to change the treatment paradigm for the first-line treatment of multiple myeloma. A study adding Daralex Faspro (daratumumab, Johnson & Johnson) to the standard of care (SOC) reduced the rate of progression or death by 58% compared to SOC alone, with a 48-month progression-free survival of 84.3% for Daralex Faspro plus SOC and 67.7% for SOC alone. Another study showed Sarclisa (isatuximab, Sanofi SA) plus SOC resulted in minimal residual disease negativity in 67% of patients compared to 48% of patients treated with SOC alone.

South Korea anticipates drug pricing reform in 2024

As South Korea awaits potential changes to drug pricing policies for generics and novel ultra-expensive therapies like Novartis AG’s Kymriah (tisagenclecleucel), the domestic pharmaceutical industry is proactively voicing concerns about some policies that could do more harm than good. In the latest policy brief published by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association in November 2023, three pharmacologists from Daewon Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. addressed potential changes that were foreshadowed by the National Health Insurance Service and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service over the past year.

US FTC challenge leads to terminated Maze-Sanofi deal for Pompe

Sanofi SA backed out of its $750 million effort to advance Maze Therapeutics Inc.’s oral Pompe disease candidate, MZE-001, after the U.S. FTC filed a federal lawsuit to block the deal, claiming the Paris-based firm was seeking to eliminate a competitor. The challenge comes seven months after the commission sought to disrupt Amgen Inc.’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc. The buyout eventually closed once Amgen agreed not to bundle its high-volume blockbuster drugs with two of Horizon’s orphan drugs, but it put the biopharma industry on high alert over potential threats to innovation. Privately held Maze, of South San Francisco, viewed Sanofi as the ideal partner due to its experience with Pompe disease. “To our knowledge, this is the first time ever the FTC has moved to block a license of a phase I investigational medicine,” Maze’s CEO Jason Coloma said. Sanofi markets in the U.S. both front-line enzyme replacement therapies Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa) and Nexviazyme (avalglucosidase alfa) for Pompe.

BioWorld Insider Podcast: Six biopharma executives consider a tough 2023 and are hopeful for a better 2024

One aspect of 2023 our group of executives completely agreed on: the past year was tough financially. And they all foresee a more vibrant year ahead for the market. Giving all of them hope were technological breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence, game changing weight loss drugs, the surging fascination with ADCs and hope for lower interest rates. But uncertainty looms about the upcoming general election in the U.S. and ground-shifting gene therapies. In a preview of the annual Biotech Showcase conference, an investor conference for private and micro- to mid-cap biotech companies Jan. 8-10 in San Francisco, BioWorld spoke with Dave Bearss, CEO of Halia Therapeutics Inc., Vimal Mehta, CEO of Bioxcel Therapeutics Inc., Paul Lammers, CEO at Triumvira Immunologics Inc., Chris Pirie, COO of HDT Bio Corp., Thijs Spoor, CEO of Perspective Therapeutics Inc., and Shelley Hartman, CEO of Aegle Therapeutics Corp. They offered insights brought about by years of hard-won experience.

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