Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
NEWS
Ipsen is penning its second acquisition of the week, this time securing Memo Therapeutics and its midstage monoclonal antibody in a deal that could approach $800 million.
The star of Ipsen’s acquisition is an MDM2 blocker being proposed as an add-on therapy to ruxolitinib for myelofibrosis. The drug could be available to patients “as early as 2028,” according to Ipsen CEO David Loew.
Ipsen will withdraw Tazverik’s follicular lymphoma and epithelioid sarcoma indications as emerging data point to an elevated safety risk in patients undergoing treatment.
The deal focuses on ICT01, a monoclonal antibody being tested in acute myeloid leukemia. ImCheck is also developing assets in infectious disease and other oncology indications.
In its second antibody-drug conjugate licensing agreement this year, Ipsen has secured exclusive rights to Foreseen Biotechnology’s FS001, which targets a novel antigen expressed across a range of solid tumors.
In 2023, the ADC market exceeded $10 billion, and this momentum is persisting into 2024, as evidenced by several strategic deals and a robust pipeline of candidate drugs.
In the next two weeks, the FDA is scheduled to decide on four drug applications and hold two highly anticipated advisory committee meetings.
Ipsen is looking to deepen its expertise in movement disorders in a research collaboration with Skyhawk Therapeutics to develop small molecule drugs for RNA targets in neurological diseases.
Under the agreement, Ipsen nabs exclusive global rights for development and commercialization of Sutro Biopharma’s STRO-003, an antibody-drug conjugate which is completing the final stages of preclinical development.
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