Deals
Astellas Pharma could secure the exclusive global rights to Audax Biosciences’ DAX-044, an antibody-cytokine fusion therapy that activates the immune system in the vicinity of the tumor.
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China may be taking the majority of licensing deals this year but those transactions don’t tell the whole story, according to Locust Walk, which points to the spike in M&A among U.S. biotechs as leveling the playing field.
After Abogen Biosciences’ COVID shot missed the commercial window, the big question was whether its mRNA technology could create value beyond vaccines. Novartis’ $575 million upfront commitment is the clearest external validation yet of that broader therapeutic potential.
After a frantic second quarter, M&A steadied with just under $30 billion across 22 total transactions, according to a BioSpace analysis.
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A new proposal from the U.S. government seeking to address investment in Chinese biotech as a matter of national security drew cautious statements from across the industry, with leaders vowing to ensure innovation isn’t stifled.
Roche will pay Zymeworks $55 million upfront plus another $40 million once the partnership asset enters Phase 1b development and up to $718 million in additional milestones.
The sector’s IPO tally has surpassed each of the past four years, with four October debuts adding momentum—but activity still remains well below the COVID-19 boom that saw nearly 100 public debuts in 2021.
China cracks down on some biotechnology ownership transfers—but will the new policy impact licensing deals?; Disc Medicine’s Phase 3 data sweep redeems rejected rare disease therapy, teeing up another FDA run; and the ESMO conference gets underway in Madrid this week, with much-anticipated data from Merck, and Summit Therapeutics.
METiS TechBio’s AiLNP platform uses machine learning models to develop lipid nanoparticles with potentially better tissue specificity that could enhance a drug’s therapeutic performance.
Silence Therapeutics’ lead siRNA asset for the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera has been earning analyst raves in a tight race to challenge Takeda in a potential $2 billion market.
Roche is offering $400 million upfront and over $15 billion in biobucks to team up with Hansoh Pharmaceutical in hopes of developing a portfolio of new antibody-drug conjugates using the latter’s in-house tech.
The new policy signals an escalation by the Chinese government on biopharma deals but is unlikely to have a major impact given that the vast majority of foreign interest in Chinese biotech comes in the form of licensing agreements.
Estuary Biotherapeutics is seeking to address the root cause of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease with two gene therapy programs based on science from Yale.
AstraZeneca will tap AI-focused insitro to find new targets for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and cardiomyopathies, following the Phase 3 failure of its Ionis-partnered Wainua in transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy.