Frontier Medicines Corp. co-founder, chairman and CEO Chris Varma told BioWorld that his firm’s deal with Abbvie Inc. happened by way of a “highly competitive process, thankfully, with multiple parties at the table,” and the tie-up means money that could “well exceed” $1 billion.
HONG KONG and BEIJING – Hong Kong-listed China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings Ltd. and Niel, Belgium-based mRNA vaccine specialist Etherna Immunotherapies NV are setting up a joint venture to develop, produce and commercialize mRNA prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.
PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is acquiring Scintec Diagnostics GmbH subsidiary Therapharm GmbH in a deal worth AU$33 million (US$24.24 million) plus royalties.
Zug, Switzerland-based Therapharm has developed a portfolio of radiolabeled diagnostic and therapeutic products, and the deal brings Telix a new targeting asset in hematology, Telix CEO Chris Behrenbruch told analysts during a Dec. 1 conference call.
If there are three takeaways from this year’s dealmaking efforts, they appear to be record-setting partnerships, lackluster M&As, and massive amounts of research funding via the U.S. government.
The whopper deal between Biogen Inc. and Sage Therapeutics Inc. – a global collaboration and licensing deal involving the latter’s zuranolone (also known as SAGE-217) for major depressive disorder (MDD), postpartum depression (PPD) and other psychiatric disorders, as well as SAGE-324 for essential tremor (ET) and neurological disorders – drew mixed reviews from Wall Street. And, for Biogen investors, the would-be Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy aducanumab remains front of mind.
New artificial intelligence capabilities will be integrated into widely used genomic testing for breast cancer under a new partnership formed by Agendia Inc. and Paige.ai. The two companies are working together to enhance the genomic information from Agendia's Mammaprint and Blueprint diagnostic tests with AI-based digital diagnostics provided by Paige with the goal of redefining precision oncology.
HONG KONG – Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has signed an exclusive license agreement with Lung Therapeutics Inc., picking up the Japanese rights to Lung Tx’s LTI-01.
HONG KONG – Shanghai and New Jersey-based Lianbio has landed a commitment of up to $70 million in non-dilutive capital from a new collaboration with Pfizer Inc., just weeks raising $310 million in an oversubscribed crossover financing round.
PERTH, Australia – Mesoblast Ltd. inked an exclusive global licensing deal with Novartis AG for the development, manufacture and commercialization of Mesoblast’s mesenchymal stromal cell product remestemcel-L, with an initial focus on the acute respiratory distress syndrome, including that associated with COVID-19, just six weeks after the FDA issued a complete response letter for the therapy as a treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.