Roche Holding AG kicked off the new year (again) with a potential $1 billion deal, including $80 million up front, for exclusive rights to Innovent Biologics Inc.’s IBI-3009, a DLL3-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate that recently entered phase I study. Under the terms, Innovent granted Roche exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize IBI-3009. The two parties will jointly focus on early stage development of the ADC candidate, after which Roche will take over full development. Innovent is eligible to receive up to $1 billion in development and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on net sales.

ADCs continue to sizzle, inspiring major deals

Already hot for years, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) continued to hold charm for the industry, sparking a number of sizable deals starting early in 2024, when Johnson & Johnson (J&J) put $2 billion on the table to take over Ambrx Biopharma Inc. Genmab A/S and Ipsen SA followed with their own ADC-focused dealmaking.

President-elect: Trump 2.0 health reforms not that ‘radical’ 

As investors and industry alike try to read the tea leaves of what the upcoming change in administrations holds for the U.S., speculation abounds about what Trump 2.0 will mean for the biopharma and med-tech spaces. The only sure thing amid all the speculation is the uncertainty. Much of the speculation has revolved around the individuals President-elect Donald Trump has nominated for key positions at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), especially Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental attorney who Trump chose to serve as HHS secretary. Some of the concern surrounding Kennedy seems to be dying down as he visits with senators and life science industry officials. Several senators from both sides of the aisle have noted finding common ground with Kennedy on some issues.

Neumora walloped on phase III data with navacaprant in MDD

Shares of Neumora Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:NMRA) tumbled by almost 80%, or $8.46, to trade at $2.14 after the firm disclosed results from the phase III Koastal-1 study of navacaprant for the treatment of major depressive disorder. It’s the first of three replicate phase III experiments that make up Watertown, Mass.-based Neumora’s pivotal program. The study failed to turn up a statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint of change from baseline in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score at the sixth week or the key secondary endpoint of a change from baseline in the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale.

Progress in cancer research, even the toughest types

Metastatic solid tumors may be curable now. Among the most profound results presented at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress were the 10-year data from the Checkmate-067 and Keynote-006 trials, the phase III trials that tested Opdivo (nivolumab), Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) as first-line agents in advanced or metastatic melanoma.

Holiday notice

BioWorld’s offices were closed Wednesday, Jan. 1. No issue was published.

Also in the news

Ascentage, Avalo, Axsome, Beigene, Brii, Cocrystal, Corcept, Duality, Galera, Immunocore, Karyopharm, Kazia, Lexicon, Nova, VBI, Verastem, Very, Xbrane