
Bristol Myers hunkers down at the deals table, executing a new I/O play in biotech buyout
A week after Bristol Myers Squibb plunked down $475 million upfront to partner with Dragonfly on an IL-12 program — which fits neatly into the broad effort to expand their big immuno-oncology effort — their early-stage R&D chief Rupert Vessey has snapped up a biotech whose pipeline matches their oncology deal profile.
This time the deal centers on a little player called Forbius, which has a lead drug called AVID200, the tip of their TGF-beta program spear that looks to use the cytokine to regulate the immune system. As Vessey notes in his attached statement, that presents one new way to serve patients not currently helped by Opdivo or other immunotherapies, as TGF-beta 1 & 3 inhibition is synergistic with I/O.
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