A nearly $2 billion global development and commercialization deal with Abbvie Inc. and a $418 million private placement have bolstered I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd.’s position globally. I-Mab framed the deal as being the largest out-licensing and global partnership transaction ever executed by a China-based biotech. Abbvie and I-Mab plan to develop and commercialize the anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody lemzoparlimab for treating multiple cancers globally, with the exception of China. Lemzoparlimab, also called TJC-4, is Shanghai-based I-Mab’s discovery and its lead cancer therapy. The company will get an up-front $180 million by licensing the highly differentiated antibody to Abbvie, along with a $20 million milestone payment based on phase I results.
HONG KONG – Singapore-based Genesis Medtech International Pte. Ltd. has acquired the Chocolate Touch drug-coated balloon angioplasty asset from Pleasanton, Calif.-based Trireme Medical LLC. The drug-device technology asset in question is designed with the intention of providing a safer and more effective treatment for patients suffering from peripheral vascular disease, compared to traditional balloon angioplasty.
Israeli startup Envizion Medical Ltd. said it is partnering with one of the largest private U.S. hospital chains to deploy its electromagnetic fields-guided feeding tube placement navigation technology in 150 hospitals nationwide. The company received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for the Envue navigation device and Envizion feeding tubes in April 2019.
A nearly $2 billion global development and commercialization deal with Abbvie Inc. and a $418 million private placement have bolstered I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd.’s position globally. I-Mab framed the deal as being the largest out-licensing and global partnership transaction ever executed by a China-based biotech.
In its second acquisition of the past four weeks, Lodo Therapeutics Corp., acquired Hibiskus Biopharma Inc. plus exclusive worldwide rights from the University of California Riverside and Michigan State University to preclinical proteasome and immunoproteasome inhibitors developed by Hibiskus’ two co-founders.
DUBLIN – Shares in Polyphor AG gained as much as 12% during early trading Aug. 31 on news of a deal in China for its lead drug, balixafortide, which is currently undergoing a phase III trial in HER2-negative locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.
LONDON – Ion Beam Applications SA (IBA) has taken a giant step into China, sealing a €100 million-plus (US$118.2 million) licensing deal with a local company to manufacture, install and maintain its proton beam cancer therapy systems.
LONDON – Engitix Ltd has secured Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s endorsement of its extracellular matrix (ECM) technology in a potential $500 million deal in liver fibrosis.
The massive deal Jounce Therapeutics Inc. has cut with Gilead Sciences Inc., an agreement that could eventually add up to about $805 million, will strengthen Jounce’s ability to develop its pipeline and choose new partners, the company’s CEO and president told BioWorld.
Times have changed at Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. since it spun out Akcea Therapeutics Inc. in 2015. The company’s evolution is such that Ionis is now ready to bring Akcea back into the fold by acquiring the remaining 24% of its affiliate.