Genome editing specialist Tome Biosciences Inc. now has all the bases covered, after arriving on the scene in December with $213 million funding and three weeks later announcing the acquisition of fellow precision editing company, Replace Therapeutics Inc. for up to $185 million.
Three months out from its first $1 billion deal with Biontech SE for an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), Suzhou, China-based Medilink Therapeutics Co. Ltd. clinched another potential $1 billion ADC deal, but this time with Roche Holding AG.
With its launch barely three years in the rearview mirror, Remix Therapeutics Inc. has inked its second potential $1 billion pharma collaboration, drawing Roche Holding AG to the table with the promise of its RNA processing platform and the potential to develop small-molecule therapeutics targeting the underlying drivers of disease. At the same time, the Watertown, Mass.-based firm added $60 million in a venture round, bringing its total financing to date to $201 million.
Allorion Therapeutics Inc. has entered into an exclusive option and global license agreement with Astrazeneca plc to develop and commercialize a novel epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) L858R mutated allosteric inhibitor.
Incheon, South Korea-based Celltrion Inc. said on Jan. 2 that it reached an agreement with Asian health care investment firm CBC Group to partially sell off its Primary Care unit by March 2024 for ₩209.9 billion (US$160.7 million). Incheon, South Korea-based Celltrion Inc. said on Jan. 2 that it reached an agreement with Asian health care investment firm CBC Group to partially sell off its Primary Care unit by March 2024 for ₩209.9 billion (US$160.7 million).
Lianbio Co. Ltd. is out-licensing NBTXR-3 to Janssen Pharmaceutical NV to develop and commercialize the radioenhancer in China, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Earlier this month, Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences LLC lodged a proposal to acquire Lianbio for $465 million, which the company’s shareholders rejected.
The spate of recent deals involving antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) continues in a field composed of record-breaking agreements in 2023. The newest of the deals were focused on Asia. GSK plc entered a license deal for the exclusive rights for clinical development and commercialization of Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s B7-H3-targeted ADC, HS-20093. Also, South Korea’s Dong-A ST Co. Ltd. is expanding into the ADC space by acquiring Abtis Co. Ltd. and its Abclick platform for ADC drug development.
Legochem Biosciences Inc. signed a $1.7 billion licensing deal with Janssen Biotech Inc. for its Trop2-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), closing the biggest technology transfer deal in Korean biotech history after Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Elpiscience Biopharma Ltd. is out-licensing to Astellas Pharma Inc. two preclinical bispecific macrophage engagers – ES-019, an anti-PD-L1/SIRPα bispecific antibody, and another unnamed program – in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion. The deal marks the Shanghai-based company’s first out-licensing deal, Elpiscience CEO Darren Ji told BioWorld, noting that Astellas will have global rights to both molecules with a potential to in-license two more.
Allorion Therapeutics Inc. could receive $40 million in up-front and near-term payments from Astrazeneca plc in the companies’ exclusive option and global license deal. The two plan to develop and commercialize an L858R mutated allosteric inhibitor for treating EGFR inhibitor-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer.