The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for the treatment of desmoid tumours, a rare subtype of soft tissue sarcoma. Desmoid tumours are non-cancerous and typically treated with surgery, but not all patients are eligible for this procedure. And even when surgery is an option there is a risk that the tumours will return, affecting a person’s quality of life, according to the FDA.
Switzerland-based BC Platforms AG is to increase its capacity as a provider of healthcare data to the pharmaceutical industry with the acquisition of Medexprim SAS of France. The financial terms of the transaction, which was announced on 7 December 2023, were not disclosed.
AstraZeneca Plc is to acquire Icosavax Inc of Seattle, US, a developer of virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines in a bid to strengthen its late-stage pipeline for candidate vaccines and immune therapies. The deal, valued at up to $1.1 billion if all contingent requirements are met, will build on the UK company’s experience developing two products for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a major cause of acute respiratory infection in individuals of all age groups.
The US Food and Drug Administrations has issued approvals for two new cell-based gene therapies for the treatment of sickle cell disease, a rare but life-threatening blood disorder that affects millions of people throughout the world. The approvals, announced on 8 December, are for treatments which have demonstrated an ability to restore haemoglobin function in patients using different mechanisms of action.
AbbVie Inc is to expand its neuroscience pipeline with the acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics LLC of Cambridge, US, which has a clinical-stage product for schizophrenia targeting a receptor that regulates signalling in the brain. Announced on 6 December, the deal is valued at $8.7 billion and comes only a week after AbbVie disclosed plans to buy ImmunoGen Inc, a company with antibody-drug conjugate products for cancer. The ImmunoGen deal is valued at $10.1 billion.
The Roche Group has joined the cohort of companies developing new drugs for weight loss and obesity with a decision to acquire Carmot Therapeutics Inc of California, US whose lead product is a Phase 2-ready synthetic peptide for the treatment of obesity. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay $2.7 billion upfront with a further $400 million on the achievement of certain milestones.
AbbVie Inc has joined the competition amongst large pharma companies for leadership of the market for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with the proposed acquisition of ImmunoGen Inc of Waltham, Massachusetts for $31.26 per share in cash or an enterprise value of $10.1 billion. The acquisition was announced on 30 November and is expected to complete in the middle of 2024.
A Phase 3 trial of a medicine for primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoimmune disorder that can lead to excessive bleeding and anaemia, has failed to meet its primary and secondary endpoints, the developer argenx SE announced on 28 November. The drug, Vyvgart Hytrulo (efgartigimod alfa), is an antibody fragment targeting the neonatal Fc receptor. Vyvgart has been approved in the US for generalised myasthenia gravis, another autoimmune disease, in both intravenous and subcutaneous formulations.
Immunocore Holdings Plc, a developer of T cell receptor immunotherapies, has reported third quarter revenue for its first approved product, Kimmtrak (tebentafusp), for metastatic uveal melanoma. The therapy was approved in both the US and the EU in 2022. In the third quarter Kimmtrak delivered net sales of £49.7 million, an increase of 9% from a year earlier. Of this sum, £34.5 million was generated in the US; £15 million from Europe; and £0.2 million from the rest of the world. Since its first authorisation, Kimmtrak has been approved in more than 35 countries.
Freeline Therapeutics Holdings Plc, a UK gene therapy company, is to become a private company once again following an agreement with a portfolio company of Syncona, its majority shareholder and co-founder, to acquire all of the shares that Syncona doesn’t already own. Syncona co-founded Freeline in 2015 with the aim of developing gene therapies for chronic debilitating diseases. In 2020, Freeline went public with the issue of 8.8 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) on the US Nasdaq market, raising $158.8 million.