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.
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.
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 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.
Syncona Ltd, the UK investment group, has launched its third gene therapy company directed against retinal diseases, including an inherited monogenic disorder that leads to progressive vision loss in males. The launch of Beacon Therapeutics Holdings Ltd was announced on 12 June and follows the UK group’s acquisition and restructuring of Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (AGTC) of the US. Beacon’s assets include a late-stage programme from AGTC in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, the inherited monogenic disorder, and two proprietary pre-clinical assets identified by Syncona.
ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) has secured €255 million from an investor syndicate led by Temasek of Singapore to advance its pipeline of radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer. The round, which was also supported by BlackRock Alternatives and the Qatar Investment Authority, will help advance the company’s lead product for neuroendocrine tumours and expand capacity for the production of targeted radionuclide therapies. These are a type of radiation therapy in which a radioactive chemical is linked to a cell-targeting molecule such as a peptide or small molecule.
Quell Therapeutics Ltd has secured its first major partnership for the development of its regulatory T cell technology for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. An agreement with AstraZeneca Plc, announced on 9 June, will bring the two parties together to research and develop potential therapies for Type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. AstraZeneca is to make an $85 million upfront payment to Quell comprising cash and equity. If the collaboration is successful, with the commercialistion of new products, milestone payments could exceed $2 billion.
Switzerland-based BC Platforms AG is to strengthen its position as a provider of real world data for clinical research with the acquisition of 4Pharma Ltd, a contract research organisation located in Turku Finland. The acquisition, announced on 1 June, will bring the Finnish company’s research capabilities, which include medical writing and data collection, into BC Platform’s global service offering. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH announced the acquisition of UK-based Theragnostics Ltd on 1 June giving it a US Food and Drug Administration approved diagnostic and a pipeline of radiolabelled small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of aggressive cancers.
This is the second major business transaction for the German radiopharmaceutical company, which was co-founded in 2021 by venture capital and private equity investors. The first was a peptide-based research collaboration with UCB SA of Belgium, announced on 11 May.
A Belgian start-up company, Dualyx NV, has raised €40 million in Series A financing to start clinical development of a new antibody therapeutic for autoimmune diseases. The antibody, DT-001, is an agonist of a receptor found on immune cells which is widely regarded as a master control switch in immune modulation. By agonising this receptor, DT-001 has been shown to activate regulatory T cells (Tregs) which keep the immune system from becoming overactive. The receptor is tumour necrosis factor receptor 2.