Abbvie Inc. and Istar Medical SA inked a deal to develop and commercialize Istar’s Miniject device to treat patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. The minimally invasive glaucoma surgical (MIGS) device won CE mark approval in November and has been available in some European countries since early 2022.
Neurofront Therapeutics Ltd. has picked up an option to acquire exclusive Asia rights to a phase II non-opioid drug from Novaremed AG. Under terms of the deal, Novaremed is eligible to receive more than $130 million in option and exercise fees as well as development, regulatory and sales milestone payments plus royalties on net sales.
3M Co. reported a planned spinoff of its health care business by 2023, during the company’s second quarter earnings. The health care company will operate as a separate public company focused on wound care, health care IT, oral care and biopharma filtration. 3M said the health care business is expected to be spun off with net leverage of approximately 3.0x to 3.5x EBITDA and the ‘New 3M’ company will retain a stake of 19.9% in health care, which will be monetized over time.
Convalife Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. acquired global rights to develop and commercialize a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) β/δ inhibitor from Karus Therapeutics Ltd.
Barely a month after signing a €1 billion-plus deal with Menarini Group for cholesterol-lowering drug obicetrapib, Newamsterdam Pharma BV has struck a $235 million SPAC merger deal that will see the biotech list on Nasdaq in late 2022. The deal will finance phase III development and potential regulatory filings of the drug once dropped by Amgen Inc. as big pharma turned away from the cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor drug class around five years ago.
Thales SA signed a major partnership with the Curie Institute to use very high-intensity electron FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) in cancer therapy. Based on its experience in the field of particle accelerators, “we have all the manufacturing facilities and human know-how necessary to ramp research and development for this new technology,” Charles-Antoine Goffin, vice president, microwave & imaging subsystems at Thales, told BioWorld.
Verve Therapeutics Inc. has packed a lot into the past few weeks. The latest is a four-year research deal with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to find and develop an in vivo gene editing program for an undisclosed liver disease. Vertex will pick up the tab for program costs as Verve does the preclinical R&D. Verve is getting an up-front $60 million from Vertex, along with a $35 million equity investment.
Convalife Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. acquired global rights to develop and commercialize a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) β/δ inhibitor from Karus Therapeutics Ltd.
The value of med-tech mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2022 are at a five-year high and about 84% ahead of last year. The volume of M&As fell significantly in the second quarter, however, with only 104 completed that were worth $46.5 billion, 27.8% less than the first quarter’s value of $64.7 billion. Regardless, M&As in the first half of 2022 are towering over each of the four prior years’ first two quarters, with a total completed of 276 worth $110.9 billion.
New interim data from Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. and Genetx Biotherapeutics LLC’s phase I/II study of GTX-102 in Angelman’s syndrome didn’t do much to bolster investor confidence, as Ultragenyx shares sagged considerably July 19. The Novato, Calif.-based company’s stock (NADAQ:RARE) closed 13% downward at $52.89 per share. That is nearly half the price shares fetched in late August. At $102.40 per share, that was the stock’s highest value in the past 12 months.