UPDATED: Novo Nordisk swallows Dicerna and its RNAi pipeline in $3.3B buyout

Douglas Fambrough, Dicerna CEO (Dicerna via YouTube)

November 18, 2021 07:15 AM ESTUpdated November 19, 04:17 PM

UPDATED: Novo Nordisk swallows Dicerna and its RNAi pipeline in $3.3B buyout

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Early this year researchers at Novo Nordisk were beaming as they announced the first drug identified in their RNAi alliance with Dicerna was headed into the clinic. And now they’re coming back for the whole thing.

This morning the Copenhagen-based pharma giant put out word that it is buying Dicerna $DRNA — an RNAi pioneer that has had its up and downs over the years — for $3.3 billion. Novo is paying $38.25 a share — an 80% premium.

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IDC: Life Sciences Firms Must Embrace Digital Transformation Now

James Allgood

Sr Product Marketing Manager, Life Sciences, Egnyte

Pre-pandemic, the life sciences industry had settled into a pattern. The average drug took 12 years and $2.9 billion to bring to market, and it was an acceptable mode of operations, according to Nimita Limaye, Research Vice President for Life Sciences R&D Strategy and Technology at IDC.

COVID-19 changed that, and served as a proof-of-concept for how technology can truly help life sciences companies succeed and grow, Limaye said. She recently spoke about industry trends at Egnyte’s Life Sciences Summit 2022. You should watch the entire session, free and on-demand, but here’s a brief recap of why she’s urging life sciences companies to embrace digital transformation.

Tom Barnes, Orna Therapeutics CEO

August 16, 2022 06:45 AM EDTUpdated 10:36 AM

Deals

UPDATED: 'We have failed to fail': Merck gambles $250M cash on a next-gen approach to mRNA — after punting its big alliance with Moderna

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Merck went in deep on its collaboration with Moderna on new mRNA programs, and dropped them all over time, including their RSV partnership. But after writing off what turned out as one of the most successful infectious disease players in the business, Merck is coming in this morning with a new preclinical alliance — this time embracing a biotech that hopes to eventually outdo the famously successful mRNA in a new run at vaccines and therapeutics.

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Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division

August 17, 2022 01:47 PM EDT

Deals

GSK lands first-ever UNICEF contract for malaria vaccine worth $170M

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

GSK has landed a new first from UNICEF — the first-ever contract for malaria vaccines, worth up to $170 million for 18 million vaccine doses distributed over the next three years.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix or RTS,S, won WHO’s backing last October after a controversial start, but UNICEF said these doses will potentially save thousands of lives every year.

“We hope this is just the beginning,” Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division, said. “Continued innovation is needed to develop new and next-generation vaccines to increase available supply, and enable a healthier vaccine market. This is a giant step forward in our collective efforts to save children’s lives and reduce the burden of malaria as part of wider malaria prevention and control programmes.”

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Bayer's first DTC ad campaign for chronic kidney disease drug Kerendia spells out its benefits

August 17, 2022 02:17 PM EDT

Pharma

Marketing

Bayer aims to simplify the complexities of CKD with an ABC-themed ad campaign

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

Do you know the ABCs of CKD in T2D? Bayer’s first ad campaign for Kerendia tackles the complexity of chronic kidney disease with a play on the acronym (CKD) and its connection to type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Kerendia was approved last year as the first and only non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist to treat CKD in people with type 2 diabetes.

In the TV commercial launched this week, A is for awareness, B is for belief and C is for cardiovascular, explained in the ad as awareness of the connection between type 2 and kidney disease, belief that something can be done about it, and cardiovascular events that may be reduced with treatment.

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James Mock, incoming CFO at Moderna

August 17, 2022 02:15 PM EDTUpdated 02:59 PM

People

Pharma

Moderna taps new CFO from PerkinElmer after former one-day CFO ousted

Paul Schloesser

Associate Editor

When Moderna hired a new CFO last year, it didn’t expect to see him gone after only one day. Today the biotech named his — likely much more vetted — replacement.

The mRNA company put out word early Wednesday that after the untimely departure of then brand-new CFO Jorge Gomez, it has now found a replacement in James Mock, the soon-to-be former CFO at diagnostics and analytics company PerkinElmer.

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Atomwise CEO and co-founder Abraham Heifets (left) and co-founder Izhar Wallach

August 17, 2022 08:00 AM EDTUpdated 08:19 AM

Deals

AI

A couple billion for Exscientia was only part of Sanofi's AI ambitions, as the Big Pharma adds Atomwise to the table

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Sanofi made clear its AI ambitions were real at the beginning of this year when the Big Pharma took its drug discovery collaboration with Exscientia to the next level, inking a pact that could birth 15 drugs and deliver $5.3 billion to the UK partner.

Seven months later, the AI blueprint is far from over at the French Big Pharma, as another of the much-hyped drug discovery startups is coming to the table in a five-drug deal. Sanofi will pay Atomwise $20 million to kick off the hunt for up to five targets, which are aimed at leading to the creation of new small molecules. Another $1 billion is on the line — as are royalties — and the companies kept mum on the specific diseases or broader therapeutic areas of interest.

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Joe Jonas (Photo by Anthony Behar/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

August 17, 2022 01:14 PM EDTUpdated 02:43 PM

Pharma

Solo Jonas brother carries Merz's new tune in Botox rival campaign

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

As the lyrics of his band’s 2019 pop-rock single suggest, Joe Jonas is only human — and that means even he gets frown lines. The 33-year-old singer-songwriter is Merz’s newest celebrity brand partner for its Botox rival Xeomin, as medical aesthetics brands target a younger audience.

Merz kicked off its “Beauty on Your Terms” campaign on Tuesday, featuring the Jonas brother in a video ad for its double-filtered anti-wrinkle injection Xeomin.

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Paul Perreault, CSL Behring CEO

August 17, 2022 02:24 PM EDT

Pharma

CSL CEO Paul Perreault determined to grow plasma collection after full-year sales dip

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

As the ink dries on CSL’s $11.7 billion Vifor buyout, the company posted a dip in profits, due in part to a drop in plasma donations amid the pandemic.

However, CEO Paul Perreault assured investors and analysts on the full-year call that the team has left “no stone unturned” when assessing options to grow plasma volumes. The chief executive also spelled out positive results for the company’s monoclonal antibody garadacimab in hereditary angioedema (HAE), though he isn’t revealing the exact numbers just yet.

Blaise Coleman, Endo International CEO

August 17, 2022 02:16 PM EDT

Pharma

Law

Endo files for Chapter 11 as it looks to finish off its opioid litigation

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

Irish drugmaker Endo International is entering into bankruptcy as it faces the weight of serious litigation related to its involvement in the opioid epidemic in the US.

The company has filed Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, with the company expected to file recognition proceedings in Canada, the UK and Australia. The company’s bankruptcy filing showed the company had assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion.