In a deal worth as much as $600 million, Lanova Medicines Ltd. licensed exclusive global rights to Astrazeneca plc for LM-305, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting GPRC5D, for multiple myeloma (MM). Lanova will receive up-front and near-term payments of up to $55 million and development and commercial milestone payments of up to $545 million, as well as tiered royalties on net sales worldwide.
With much-awaited readouts from their broad oncology-focused collaboration due later this year, Arcus Biosciences Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc. have decided to expand efforts into the inflammatory disease space via an early stage research agreement that could be worth as much as $1 billion. Terms include a $35 million up-front payment to Arcus, which is making its first move beyond oncology.
Angelini Pharma SpA and JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. signed an exclusive worldwide agreement for the development and commercialization of biologic therapies for epilepsy based on the J-Brain Cargo technology.
Chance Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. acquired greater China rights to Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), used to manage Parkinson’s disease (PD), from Acorda Therapeutics Inc. in a deal worth as much as $140 million.
Grand Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. plans to acquire an 87.5% stake in Blackswan Vascular Inc., a company that develops liquid embolism for peripheral vascular applications, as it continues to expand its footprint in tumor intervention.
Barely a month and a half after its radioconjugate approach landed a potential $1.7 billion deal with Novartis AG, Bicycle Therapeutics plc drew another big radiopharma player to the table, signing a collaboration agreement with Bayer AG to use Bicycle’s peptide technology to discover and develop radiotherapies against cancer targets. Terms are similar to the Novartis deal, with Bayer paying $45 million up front and Bicycle eligible for development and commercial milestones totaling up to $1.7 billion, and underline the growing interest in the radiopharma space.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) AB is offering a hefty 95% premium to shareholders in CTI Biopharma Corp., as it tables a $9.10-per-share cash offer for the company, which implies a total equity valuation of $1.7 billion. Shares in Seattle-based CTI (NASDAQ:CTIC) had closed May 9 at $4.82 but surged 85% to close at $8.93 during trading May 10. The premium calculation is based on CTI’s 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of $4.67 prior to the deal announcement.
Baxter International Inc. agreed to divest its Biopharma Solutions (BPS) business to private equity firms Advent International and Warburg Pincus for $4.25 billion. Baxter expects to net approximately $3.4 billion from the transaction, which it will use to pay down debt. The deal is anticipated to close in the second half of 2023.
Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (CBMG) licensed a pair of candidates for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma to Janssen Biotech Inc. for development outside of greater China. The candidates are anti-CD19 and CD20 bispecific CAR T-cell therapy C-CAR039 and anti-CD20 CAR T-cell therapy C-CAR066.
University of Sydney spinout Kinoxis Therapeutics Pty announced a partnership and licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH to develop first-in-class oxytocin-targeting precision psychiatry treatments to improve the quality of life of people living with neuropsychiatric disorders.