Royalty monetization is a financing tactic that is becoming increasingly popular during challenging times, and PTC Therapeutics Inc. is the latest firm to leverage a marketed drug to pay off debt and fuel its development pipeline. The South Plainfield, N.J.-based company agreed to sell up to $1.5 billion of its Evrysdi (risdiplam) royalty stream to Royalty Pharma plc, of New York. Evrysdi is a survival motor neuron 2 RNA splicing modifier approved by the U.S. FDA in 2020 to treat spinal muscular atrophy.
While biopharma dealmaking remains active, a strong third quarter (Q3) was not enough to bring it to the same level seen during each of the last three years, although values are coming close. At the same time, M&As appear to be rising above 2022, but even with the increase, they still lag behind other years. If the Pfizer Inc./Seagen Inc. merger, worth $43 billion, closes before the end of 2023, for example, M&As will still not come close to the overall value seen in 2019 and 2020.
Biopharma financings in 2023 – at $49.3 billion raised through the third quarter (Q3) – are tracking ahead of, or only slightly behind, several years since 2011, except for the two outlier years of 2020 and 2021 when there was a flurry of investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With shares dropping again, this time more than 15% on Oct. 13, Cassava Sciences Inc. has found itself entangled in a mess involving short-sellers, data that were allegedly mishandled involving its oral Alzheimer’s disease (AD) candidate simufilam, and a leaked investigation report from the City University of New York (CUNY).
Biopharma financings in 2023 – at $49.3 billion raised through the third quarter (Q3) – are tracking ahead of, or only slightly behind, several years since 2011, except for the two outlier years of 2020 and 2021 when there was a flurry of investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biopharma financings in 2023 – at $49.3 billion raised through the third quarter (Q3) – are tracking ahead of, or only slightly behind, several years since 2011, except for the two outlier years of 2020 and 2021 when there was a flurry of investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Ventyx Biosciences Inc.’s oral S1P1 receptor modulator, VTX-002, achieved primary and secondary endpoints in a phase II ulcerative colitis (UC) trial, the company’s shares (NASDAQ:VTYX) fell 25.9%, or $7.78, closing Oct. 10 at $22.22, possibly due to a higher-than-expected placebo response and a clinical remission rate that was similar to Pfizer Inc.’s etrasimod.
A discovery-stage company founded 10 years ago and focused on developing a PINK1 activator for Parkinson’s disease and other indications is now under the umbrella of Abbvie Inc. through an acquisition potentially worth $655 million. North Chicago-based Abbvie paid $110 million at closing for San Francisco-based Mitokinin Inc., but the deal also includes up to $545 million in potential payments upon hitting development and commercial milestones related to the PINK1 (PTEN-induced kinase 1) program. On top of that, Mitokinin shareholders are entitled to tiered royalties based on net sales.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists have brought significant weight loss to patients, catching the attention of investors, but drug developers are continually seeking new therapies with different mechanisms to enhance the effects and improve the tolerability.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. agreed to acquire Point Biopharma Global Inc. for $12.50 per share in cash, or about $1.4 billion, in a deal that would bring the pharma company a pipeline of preclinical and clinical radioligand therapies for cancer. The purchase price is an 87% premium to Point’s closing stock price on Oct. 2, and a 68% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price. Shares (NASDAQ:PNT) of Point, also of Indianapolis, rose 84.9%, or $5.67, to close at $12.36 on Oct. 3.
