Takeda shifting hundreds of R&D staffers to Boston — report; Shire inks hemophilia deal; Amgen, Array partner on autoimmune diseases
→ Modern Healthcare reports that Takeda has been relocating hundreds of R&D jobs out of Chicago and into its big new biotech hub in Boston/Cambridge. According to the report, Takeda has required up to 600 R&D staffers in Chicago to relocate, along with 150 in the vaccines group. Takeda has been shredding its old global R&D structure to favor a concentration of forces in Boston and Japan. But the company, under CEO Christophe Weber and R&D chief Andy Plump, have maintained a considerable air of secrecy in how they’re uprooting groups in an effort to reorganize and create a far more effective biopharma company.
→ Shire has forged a licensing pact with Novimmune for a bi-specific antibody in preclinical development for hemophilia A and hemophilia A patients with inhibitors. No deal terms were disclosed.
→ The UK’s Abzena has granted Telix an exclusive license to its prostate-specific membrane antigen (‘PSMA’) antibodies in the field of radio-immunoconjugation. The PSMA antibodies were created using Abzena’s Composite Human Antibody technology. The deal comes with fees and milestones totaling some $65 million for Abzena.
→ Amgen and Array BioPharma unveiled a collaboration agreement for the discovery and development of novel drugs for autoimmune disorders.
