HONG KONG – China’s Arctic Vision Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has entered into an exclusive deal with New York-based Eyenovia Inc. to develop and commercialize ophthalmic formulations that are delivered using the latter’s first-in-class microdosing spray technology.
The U.S. government bought 100 million doses of mRNA-1273 from Moderna Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., with a new award worth up to $1.525 billion, a deal that drops the implied cost per dose below that of several other companies receiving funding through the government program.
PERTH, Australia – Aussie regenerative medicine company Regeneus Ltd. has out-licensed its lead mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and secretome therapy, Progenza, to Japan’s Kyocera Corp. for osteoarthritis of the knee for the Japan market.
LONDON – After 17 years of patient toil, Lytix Biopharma AS has landed the first commercial endorsement of its oncolytic peptide platform, agreeing to a potential $113.5 million deal in which Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will develop the lead product, LTX-315, as a transdermal treatment for skin cancer.
LONDON – Women’s health specialist Kandy Therapeutics Ltd. is to be acquired by Bayer AG for $425 million up front, with a further $450 million to come in milestone payments up to the launch of NT-814, a treatment for menopause symptoms that recently completed phase IIb.
HONG KONG – Tel Aviv-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has inked an exclusive strategic agreement with Reykjavik, Iceland-based Alvotech hf to commercialize five biosimilar product candidates in the U.S.
Astrazeneca plc has reached an agreement with Shenzhen-based Kangtai Biological Products Co. Ltd. to produce its COVID-19 vaccine AZD-1222 in China. The Chinese firm is required to produce at least 100 million doses by the end of the year, and at least 200 million doses by the end of 2021.
Biogen Inc., one the world's top neurological disease specialists, is committing to invest more than $1 billion in cash and equity in Denali Therapeutics Inc. for rights to co-develop and co-commercialize a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) and options to secure up to four more neurodegenerative disease programs from its new partner.
HONG KONG – Following positive phase II data on Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonist, efinopegdutide, in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the Seoul-based company has exclusively licensed the drug to Kenilworth, N.J.-based Merck & Co. Inc. for the indication.
Bold up-fronts and even bigger milestones defined ambitious neurology deals Abbvie Inc. struck with Voyager Therapeutics Inc. in 2018 and 2019. With vectorized antibodies, they planned to target multiple indications tied to excess aggregations of tau and tragic synucleinopathies. Considerable progress was made, said Omar Khwaja, Voyager's chief medical officer. But despite millions of dollars invested in the programs, Abbvie has now decided to quit the venture, leaving Voyager to either go it alone or find a new partner in its work on the challenging indications.