While last week may have centered around barbeques, parades and fireworks displays for many of us celebrating the 248th anniversary of the founding of the United States, there was still plenty of activity in the biotech sector that was also worth celebrating. Making the most of a quiet week in US VC financing, the UK came out with 2 raises worth a total of $284M, laying down a statement to investors and entrepreneurs that there are deals to be done across the pond. There were plenty of deals, mostly focused around licensing and partnerships, as well as biotech companies benefiting from defense contracts and our cool science of the week is nothing short of a technology from the future. Enjoy!
Also in the UK, Beacon Therapeutics raised a $170M series B to push its blindness causing retinal disease gene therapy candidates through clinical trials. Link
🤝 Deals deals deals…
Eli lilly
have tapped Radionetics Oncology in a deal worth $140M upfront with exclusive rights to acquire the biotech for $1B, in a deal centered around Radionetics' GPCR targeting small molecule radiopharmaceutical pipeline. Link
Radiopharma company Pentixapharm Holding AG is bolstering its pipeline of preclincial cancer antibodies by purchasing Germany based
Glycotope GmbH
's target discovery unit for an undisclosed sum Link
Crosswalk Therapeutics, led by ex-Takeda gene therapy researchers, acquired a number of engineered enzyme therapies from Codexis, Inc. that were previously being developed in collaboration with Takeda before the big pharma's 2023 shift away from AAV research. These assets will integrate into Crosswalk's rapidly advancing R&D programs aimed at developing best-in-class enzyme replacement therapies. Great to see the science that was deprioritized due to industry shifts find its way back to the scientists who started it Link
Merck is expanding a research partnership with Orion Corporation into an exclusive licensing pact, putting more than $1.6B biobucks on the table for cancer candidates targeting CYP11A1, an enzyme important in steroid production. Link
In a bid to reduce its expenses, uniQure has sold its gene therapy manufacturing facility in Lexington to CDMO Genezen. Link
Korean CDMO Samsung Biologics announced a $1B manufacturing deal with an undisclosed US drugmaker! Link
GSK and CureVac restructured their existing collaboration into a new licensing agreement worth €400 million upfront and up to an additional €1.05 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestone payments. The deal centers around CureVac's mRNA vaccine for influenza and COVID-19. Link
📈 IPO News…
San Diego based Artiva Biotherapeutics has laid out plans in an SEC filing to file for an IPO to push its phase 1/1b allogenic NK cell therapy program through clinical trials for autoimmune diseases. Link
Cartesian Therapeutics has claimed a phase 2b win for its autoimmune CAR-T therapy in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), however changes in a primary endpoint and population excluded 25% of participants. Link
Despite glossing over its primary endpoint, Annovis Bio reported success in subgroups and secondary endpoints for its phase 3 Parkinson's program. Link
The FDA approved
Eli lilly
's donanemab as an anti-amyloid treatment for Alzheimer's, teeing up a competition with Eisai US and Biogen's Leqembi. Link
Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech announced positive phase 3 data for their CAR-T therapy for patients with already treated multiple myeloma. Link
In what appears to be the only obesity news of the week, Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra have initiated a phase 1 trial of a long-acting triple agonist peptide designed to treat obesity. Link
After scoring approval as the world’s first pneumococcal disease vaccine made specifically for adults earlier this month, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has now unanimously recommended in favor of Merck's vaccine in millions of adults. Link
💉 Infectious disease defense grant spending...
BARDA awarded Moderna $176M to fund development of its phase 2 avian flu mRNA vaccine. Link
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response modified four existing contracts with Emergent BioSolutions totaling more than $250 million. Emergent will deliver millions of doses of its anthrax and smallpox vaccines and associated products. Link
🧬 Cool science of the week…
Our innovation of the week this week goes to
Yang Wang
of the Karolinska Institutet who designed a DNA origami robotic switch that displays cytotoxic ligands when exposed to tumor microenvironments. The switchable DNA origami normally hides six cytotoxic ligands however displays them as a hexagonal pattern 10 nm in diameter once under higher acidity to cluster death receptors and trigger apoptosis of human breast cancer cells at pH 6.5 while remaining inert at pH 7.4. The treatment reduced tumor sizes by 70% in mice bearing human breast cancer xenografts, demonstrating the feasibility of ligand pattern switches as a potential treatment innovation. Very slick technology! Full paper
That's all for this week, thanks for tuning in. Subscribe for alerts to the latest positive news in the biotech industry delivered to your inbox every Monday ⬇️🔔
About the author: Max Robinson is an ex-scientist turned talent leader in the biotechnology industry, and currently Global Head of Discovery & Preclinical Research at Proclinical.
