Harpreet Singh. (via Allogeneic Cell Therapies Summit)
August 28, 2019 04:16 AM EDTUpdated 08:20 AM
Deals
Cell/Gene Tx

Im­mat­ics scores $75M up­front in TCR deal with Cel­gene as in­ter­est in tech bur­geons

Natalie Grover

Reporter

Months after elevating its chief scientist, Harpreet Singh, to the post of CEO, privately-held immuno-oncology company Immatics has enlisted another partner — Celgene — in a deal capitalizing on the industry appetite for TCR therapies and their potential to target solid tumors — a limitation of existing cellular therapies.

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March 27, 2023 06:00 AM EDT

Forge Bi­o­log­ics’ cGMP Com­pli­ant and Com­mer­cial­ly Vi­able Be­spoke Affin­i­ty Chro­matog­ra­phy Plat­form

Victoria Maharaj

M.S.,Technical Sales & Scientific Advisory, Forge Biologics

Forge Biologics has developed a bespoke affinity chromatography platform approach that factors in unique vector combinations to streamline development timelines and assist our clients in efficiently entering the clinic. By leveraging our experience with natural and novel serotypes and transgene conformations, we are able to accelerate affinity chromatography development by nearly 3-fold. Many downstream purification models are serotype-dependent, demanding unique and time-consuming development strategies for each AAV gene therapy product1. With the increasing demand to propel AAV gene therapies to market, platform purification methods that support commercial-scale manufacturing of high-quality vectors with excellent safety and efficacy profiles are essential.

March 27, 2023 10:20 AM EDTUpdated 10:38 AM
R&D
Special

Who’s spend­ing and who’s cut­ting from Big Phar­ma’s $127B R&D bud­get? Here are the top 15 play­ers

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

A couple of the Big 15 biopharma companies in R&D hit the gas on research spending last year. Merck and Sanofi still have lots to prove in the pipeline, and they’re willing to gamble large sums to make a better future for themselves.

Doing nothing would be infinitely worse.

But collectively, the top players rang up a modest 2.4% increase in spending in 2022, which didn’t cover inflationary pressures. And that set the tone for an extraordinarily cautious year for the industry — even as it laid out about $127 billion to advance new drugs or up the ante on approved therapies.

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Jeff Bluestone (R), Sonoma Biotherapeutics CEO
March 28, 2023 07:30 AM EDT
Financing
Bioregnum

Jef­frey Blue­stone brings his start­up haul to $400M+, join­ing forces with Re­gen­eron on cell ther­a­pies

These days, when Jeffrey Bluestone gets together with his contemporaries in science, the conversation often turns to retirement plans.

But a little more than three years ago, Bluestone reached a momentous turning point in his career, exiting a prestigious post at UCSF, where he had spent decades in the scientific pursuit of new therapies. And it had nothing to do with retirement anytime in the near future.

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Kevin Lee, Bicycle Therapeutics CEO
March 28, 2023 10:29 AM EDTUpdated 11:14 AM
Deals

No­var­tis rides with Bi­cy­cle for new pact on tar­get­ed ra­dio­ther­a­pies

Lei Lei Wu

News Reporter

Novartis has inked a three-year deal with Bicycle Therapeutics to develop new targeted radiotherapies for cancer.

Novartis will pay Bicycle $50 million upfront, with downstream milestones adding up to a potential $1.7 billion. In exchange, Bicycle will use its virus-based platform to discover new bicyclic peptides, which it calls bicycles, that would be used for radiotherapies. Those bicycles would act as a homing beacon for radioactive isotopes, delivering them to cancer cells to kill the cells while limiting radiation to healthy tissue.

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Covant acting CEO Matt Maisak (L) and CSO Iván Cornella
March 28, 2023 08:00 AM EDT
Financing
Startups
Deals

With Boehringer In­gel­heim’s help, Roivant churns out an­oth­er Vant to go up against En­deav­or, Im­pact founders

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Roivant Sciences has added another branch to its family tree, unveiling Covant Therapeutics with a $10 million upfront commitment from Boehringer Ingelheim to turn up the heat in cancer.

The Boston-based drug discovery startup will jointly create a new small molecule immunotherapy with the private German pharma giant. The deal, made public Tuesday morning, includes up to $471 million in future payments and tiered royalties, should the product make it to market.

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Richard Murray, Jounce Therapeutics CEO
March 27, 2023 10:40 AM EDT
Financing
Deals

Jounce nix­es Redx of­fer as I/O biotech in­stead goes with Con­cen­tra Bio­sciences’ takeover bid

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

A minority shareholder has won out in the Jounce Therapeutics takeover battle, with the once-ambitious immunotherapy biotech now choosing to be acquired by Kevin Tang’s Concentra Biosciences rather than follow through with an already-announced deal that would have brought the UK’s Redx onto Nasdaq.

Via its new merger partner, Jounce is expected to get $1.85 per share from Concentra, which was formed by Tang Capital Partners, the owner of about 10% of Jounce shares. Two weeks ago, Concentra laid out a $1.80 per share proposal plus more for the ability to swoop up 80% of proceeds from licenses of legacy programs out of Jounce’s pipeline.

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Mihael Polymeropoulos, Vanda Pharmaceuticals CEO
March 28, 2023 04:11 PM EDT
R&D

Van­da wins court case against FDA over dis­clo­sure of CRL de­tails for sleep drug

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper today granted Vanda Pharma’s request to require the FDA to disclose more info on the complete response letter for its sleep disorder drug Hetlioz.

The melatonin receptor agonist is approved by the FDA to treat non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, a circadian rhythm disorder. But in 2018 Vanda filed a supplemental application to market Hetlioz as a treatment for jet lag, which the FDA rejected in August 2019, with few details on what Vanda needed to correct course, according to the company.

Sally Susman, Pfizer EVP and chief corporate affairs officer
March 28, 2023 12:30 PM EDT
Pharma
Marketing

Q&A: Pfiz­er cor­po­rate com­mu­ni­ca­tions chief Sal­ly Sus­man dis­cuss­es book craft­ed in pan­dem­ic and per­son­al lessons

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

From the political arena to the finance and beauty industries to pharmaceuticals, Pfizer’s Sally Susman has broken barriers, stereotypes and conventions. And now the chief communicator is “Breaking Through,” the title of her first book about effective and innovative communications launching today. The full official title is “Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts, and Change the World.”

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Werner Lanthaler, Evotec CEO
March 28, 2023 10:56 AM EDT
Deals
Pharma

Evotec’s CNS deal with Bris­tol My­ers gets $50M in­fu­sion and eight-year ex­ten­sion

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Bristol Myers Squibb is upping the ante on its neurodegeneration partnership with German biotech Evotec. The Big Pharma will dole out $50 million upfront to expand the seven-year collaboration by another eight years.

Originally inked with Celgene, the partnership will now balloon to a potential $4 billion as the partners look at precision medicines across a variety of modalities. The first program in-licensed by BMS, EVT8683 for $20 million in 2021, is a small molecule in a Phase I study. Low double-digit tiered royalties are also on the table.

Im­mat­ics scores $75M up­front in TCR deal with Cel­gene as in­ter­est in tech bur­geons

Forge Bi­o­log­ics’ cGMP Com­pli­ant and Com­mer­cial­ly Vi­able Be­spoke Affin­i­ty Chro­matog­ra­phy Plat­form

Who’s spend­ing and who’s cut­ting from Big Phar­ma’s $127B R&D bud­get? Here are the top 15 play­ers

Jef­frey Blue­stone brings his start­up haul to $400M+, join­ing forces with Re­gen­eron on cell ther­a­pies

No­var­tis rides with Bi­cy­cle for new pact on tar­get­ed ra­dio­ther­a­pies

With Boehringer In­gel­heim’s help, Roivant churns out an­oth­er Vant to go up against En­deav­or, Im­pact founders

Jounce nix­es Redx of­fer as I/O biotech in­stead goes with Con­cen­tra Bio­sciences’ takeover bid

Van­da wins court case against FDA over dis­clo­sure of CRL de­tails for sleep drug

Q&A: Pfiz­er cor­po­rate com­mu­ni­ca­tions chief Sal­ly Sus­man dis­cuss­es book craft­ed in pan­dem­ic and per­son­al lessons

Evotec’s CNS deal with Bris­tol My­ers gets $50M in­fu­sion and eight-year ex­ten­sion