Veraxa through a SPAC heads to Nasdaq
Veraxa Biotech AG is merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Voyager Acquisition Corp. to become a publicly traded company that will develop treatments for solid tumors. Veraxa’s platform is used for developing bispecific antibody-drug conjugates and T-cell engagers that target immune cells. The transaction gives Veraxa a pre-money equity value of $1.3 billion. The deal is expected by the companies to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Veraxa anticipates trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VERX. Veraxa has an Fc-enhanced therapeutic antibody targeting FLT3 in a phase I study for treating hematological cancers.
Chinabio 2025: Europe-China pharma deals rise as US markets shut
Europe was a bigger counterpart to China in pharmaceutical dealmaking than the U.S. last year, speakers at Chinabio Partnering Forum said April 23, and the trend is likely to continue in 2025 with the shuttering of U.S. capital and volatility ailing global markets. “Markets are struggling with uncertainty … and U.S. capital is … shut still,” Christian Plaza, partner at Cooley LLP, said to the audience in Shanghai. “While we were hopeful … [for an] uptick (we got about four deals done) … not surprisingly, the mood is relatively sour in the U.S. for investors.” Major U.S. indices like Nasdaq dropped across multiple sectors, and regulations to bolster American biosecurity – including the America First Act, genomic data restrictions and disruptions at the U.S. FDA, among a few – have significantly “dampened activity in U.S. markets,” rippling through global markets, Plaza said.
Tessellate signs $570M Boehringer deal targeting ALT-positive cancers
Synthetic lethality specialist Tessellate Bio NV has closed its first deal, agreeing to a €500 million-plus (US$570 million) research and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, to develop small molecules targeting tumors that depend on alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) for their growth. Tessellate will receive an up-front license fee, research funding and milestone payments, as the orally available product progresses in development. “We have a significant up-front, that is of course, non-dilutive funding for us and very valuable for our company. And then technical milestone payments during the collaboration phase, and typical clinical and regulatory milestones,” said Andree Blaukat, CEO. In healthy cells, telomeres progressively shorten after each cell division. ALT is a mechanism by which tumor cells maintain telomere length, enabling them to continue dividing.
Bromides belied by actions as HHS axes women’s health research
On Jan. 21, economist Jay Bhattacharya spoke publicly for the first time since becoming the current NIH director, addressing the NIH Council of Councils in an open session. The 27-member council advises the NIH director on planning strategic initiatives. The goal of Bhattacharya’s remarks seemed to be to reassure troubled staffers. U.S. researchers and research institutions have lived through unprecedented turbulence – characterized as a wholesale assault by members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine – since the second Trump administration assumed power in January. But on the same day Bhattacharya was delivering his remarks, the Women’s Health Initiative – one of the longest-running clinical research projects in the U.S., which originated in 1991 and began recruiting participants in 1993 – announced that funding for its regional centers had been cut by the Department of Health and Humans Services.
Free trade zones not a simple workaround to tariffs
Using free trade zones (FTZs) for the U.S. manufacture of medical products is nothing new, but the looming threat of significant tariffs on biopharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and other starting ingredients, as well as tariffs on devices and their components, may make it seem more attractive. Referencing a notice today of the U.S. FTZ Board’s authorization of Sanofi SA’s proposed FTZ production of Beyfortus (nirsevimab) using foreign-sourced components, Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat said, “At surface, it may seem that all pharmas should just do the same – import raw materials at low/no duties” and do the finishing in the U.S., applying a high value to the last steps. But that kind of thinking is too simplistic and misses an important nuance, Raffat cautioned.
China adds Ascentage's lisaftoclax, olverembatinib to guidelines
Ascentage Pharma Group Corp. Ltd. said two of its novel candidates have been included in the 2025 Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Guidelines, including its in-house developed Bcl-2 selective inhibitor, lisaftoclax (APG-2575), which is under review in China and could be the first domestically approved Bcl-2 inhibitor and the second global approval. Lisaftoclax has received its first recommendation in the CSCO Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of lymphoid malignancies. Olverembatinib, Ascentage’s third-generation BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor, received an upgraded recommendation in the CSCO Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of leukemias in children and adolescents and for the treatment of children with Ph+ ALL who harbor the T315I BCR-ABL1 kinase domain mutation.
The BioWorld Insider podcast: Two CEOs discuss bracing for tariffs, NIH grant cuts and gifting China biopharma leadership position
As pharma deals with the impact of NIH grant cuts and what could follow with the imposition of tariffs, Robert Williamson, CEO of Triumvira Immunologics Inc., and Hernan Bazan, CEO of South Rampart Pharma LLC, brought their extensive experience in the industry to the podcast. Their concerns include how tariffs will bring lower margins for U.S. companies, higher costs and eventually drug shortages. They also spoke about the impact on drug development as more than 90% of all drugs are NIH-supported and the challenges private investment faces as it steps in to fill the gap. “What we’re doing by freezing the domestic biotech innovation and supply space, is that … we're gifting China this future leadership in the biotech space with some of these tariffs,” Williamson said.
Also in the news
1st Bio, Achieve, ACM, Aeon, Aptevo, Ascentage, Brainchild, Cassava, Cellphire, Chimerix, Diosynvax, Ferring, Galapagos, Genrab, Geovax, Halda, Jazz, Ligachem, Lipella, Metavia, Neuronos, Novadip, OS, Piezo, Sirona, Tagworks, Telix