Finance, Grants, Deals

Lilly to acquire Versanis

Country
United States

Eli Lilly and Co is to acquire Versanis Bio Inc of the US in a transaction valued at up to $1.93 billion in order to expand its presence in cardiometabolic medicine development. The acquisition, in cash, will be the company’s third in less than a month, giving it a candidate product for obesity that is in a Phase 2b study. The acquisition was announced on 14 July. Lilly’s earlier announced deals included the takeover of DICE Therapeutics Inc, with a project in psoriasis, and Sigilon Therapeutics Inc, with a project for type 1 diabetes.

BioGeneration closes new fund

Country
Netherlands

BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) of the Netherlands has raised €150 million for a fifth venture fund which will enable it continue creating new biotech companies and provide financial support to those already building portfolios. BGV Fund V was oversubscribed, generating funds from existing and new investors, of which 78% were of US origin. Existing investors also contributed, including Eli Lilly and Co, Novo Holdings, and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. The fund’s close was announced on 13 July.

Nanobiotix gets partner

Country
France

Twenty years after its launch as a nanomedicines company, Nanobiotix SA of France has secured a major licensing deal enabling it to complete development and commercialise a radioenhancer for use with radiotherapy to treat patients with multiple, difficult cancers. The agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, part of Johnson & Johnson Inc, was announced on 10 July. It carries potential payments of up to $1.8 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones as well as royalties on net sales of the product NBTXR3.

Lilly to acquire Sigilon

Country
United States

Eli Lilly and Co is to expand its pharmaceutical pipeline with the acquisition of Sigilon Therapeutics Inc of Cambridge, US, which has a pre-clinical asset for type 1 diabetes. The two companies have been developing the asset, an encapsulated cell therapy called SIG-002, since 2018. The product is in lead optimisation and poised to enter clinical development.

AAVantgarde gets capital

Country
Italy

AAVantgarde Bio Srl of Italy has raised €61 million in a Series A financing to develop genetic medicines for inherited retinal diseases. The financing was co-led by Atlas Venture of the US and Netherlands-based Forbion.

MoonLake gets return

Country
Switzerland

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics AG of Switzerland has completed an upsized public share offering which is expected to yield an estimated $400 million, before commissions and underwriting discounts. The shares were priced on 27 June ahead of the close of the offering which is expected to be on or about 30 June.

ADC developer gets finance

Country
Netherlands

A Netherlands-based company with new technology for antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) announced the completion of a $65 million Series A financing on 22 June. Tagworks Pharmaceuticals BV was founded in 2011 and currently has one preclinical ADC in development and four in discovery. The financing will enable it to advance the lead programme, TGW101, and test a new concept in oncology drug development.

Lilly to acquire DICE Therapeutics

Country
United States

Eli Lilly and Co is to pay $2.4 billion to acquire DICE Therapeutics Inc of South San Francisco, US, thereby bolstering its pipeline of drugs for immunological disorders. The transaction, which was announced on 20 June, is expected to conclude in the 2023 third quarter. DICE is building a pipeline of small molecule drugs directed against diseases many of which are currently treated by biologics. The company says that its technology has the potential to modulate protein-to-protein interactions as effectively as systemic biologics.

Lilly embraces gene editing

Country
United States

Eli Lilly and Co has signed a collaboration agreement with Verve Therapeutics Inc,  a clinical stage US genetic medicines company, to develop a product that can treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This is a disorder arising from a thickening of the arteries, restricting the flow of blood to organs and tissues. An increase in a specific type of lipoprotein can cause the disease. The amount of this protein in individuals is congenital.

Novartis to acquire Chinook

Country
Switzerland

Novartis is to pay $3.2 billion upfront to acquire Chinook Therapeutics Inc of Seattle, Washington, US, in a bid to strengthen its renal portfolio with two Phase 3 assets for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN), a rare, progressive kidney disease. The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the second half of 2023. It will take the form of a merger of Chinook into a newly formed Novartis subsidiary.