CAR-T
The high court sides with HHS on HIV PrEP drugs; Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s newly appointed CDC vaccine advisors discuss thimerosal in flu vaccines, skip vote on Moderna’s mRNA-based RSV vaccine; FDA removes CAR T guardrails; AbbVie snaps up Capstan for $1.2B to end first half; and psychedelics take off again with data from Compass and Beckley.
The all-cash buyout, which gives AbbVie access to Capstan Therapeutics’ in vivo edited CAR T therapy for B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases, adds to a growing sense of momentum in M&A, according to BMO Capital Markets.
The cell and gene therapy company is cutting 47 employees and its entire lupus program to focus resources on two CAR Ts. The move follows a reconfiguration last year to move into immunology.
The biotech is exploring opportunities for a reverse merger or other business combinations. CFO and now interim CEO Anup Radhakrishnan will take charge of these negotiations.
Having established success in cancer, biopharma is now looking to leverage CAR T therapies against a new target, autoimmune disorders, with several early- to mid-stage readouts expected this year.
Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech hope to hit blockbuster status for Carvykti this year.
Abecma made $406 million in 2024, of which BMS paid $43 million to 2seventy bio as part of their profit-sharing agreement.
Gilead beat consensus estimates in Q4 with $7.6 billion in revenue, driven largely by its HIV drug Biktarvy and CAR T therapies Trodelvy and Yescarta.
Adding a new indication for the CAR T cell therapy could help BMS offset the loss-of-exclusivity headwinds it faces in the coming years.
CAR T–focused biotech Cargo Therapeutics surprised and disappointed analysts when it announced that it would discontinue a mid-stage trial of its lead program, firi-cel.
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