Big pharma continues to seek innovation in China despite rising geopolitical tension, speakers said at the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore April 24.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has tapped into Treefrog Therapeutics SA’s high-throughput stem cell manufacturing technology in a deal worth potentially up to $780 million to help it advance its type 1 diabetes programs, including phase I/II asset VX-880.
In the initial quarter of 2024, biopharma deal value totaled $43.99 billion, surpassing the values of two quarters last year and falling short of two others. Biopharma M&As, meanwhile, reached $50.06 billion, marking a decrease from the fourth quarter last year’s $84.03 billion but exceeding the values of the other three quarters.
BNC Korea Inc. is picking up exclusive commercial rights to Kariya Pharmaceuticals ApS’ dual GLP-1/GIP agonists for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease in five countries – a move that comes shortly after BNC Korea dropped $1.5 million into the Danish pharma for a 4.5% stake.
South Korea’s SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Shanghai-based Ignis Therapeutic Co. Ltd. signed a ₩804 billion (US$58 million) licensing deal on April 18, granting the latter global rights to a non-narcotic pain treatment candidate dubbed SKL-22544. A sodium channel blocker, SKL-22544 is in late discovery.
Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc. signed on to work with Ipsen SA in a neurological disease-focused deal worth potentially $1.8 billion to discover and develop novel small molecules that modulate RNA. The deal is an option agreement for exclusive global rights to two candidates. Once the parties have identified and validated those candidates, Paris-based Ipsen will take on all further development and commercialization.
In a deal that could exceed $1 billion for Ochre Bio Ltd., the U.K.-based liver disease therapy developer will collaborate with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. In the meantime, Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc. shut down its lead candidate’s phase IIb study while looking for a lifeline.
China’s CAR T market is expected to grow from $72 million in 2022 to $342 million over the next decade. There are currently more than 400 CAR T therapies in the pipeline in China, and most of these are being developed by specialized Chinese biotechs. Research by Clarivate plc, BioWorld’s parent company, indicates that a notable proportion of CAR T-cell therapies in late-phase development in China are being developed through strategic partnerships and joint ventures between multinational corporations and domestic companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Nanjing Legend Biotech Corp., Juno Therapeutics Inc. and Wuxi Apptec Co. Ltd., and CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd.
South Korea’s SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Shanghai-based Ignis Therapeutic Co. Ltd. signed a ₩804 billion (US$58 million) licensing deal on April 18, granting the latter global rights to a non-narcotic pain treatment candidate dubbed SKL-22544. A sodium channel blocker, SKL-22544 is in late discovery.
The new merger guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proven controversial on several fronts, but now the House of Representatives is weighing in.
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