Company News

UK-based Quell Therapeutics Ltd is to out-licence a candidate cell therapy for inflammatory bowel disease to AstraZeneca Plc following the achievement of a research milestone. Further details of the research goal were not disclosed. The two companies have been collaborating since 2023 in the development of engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies for two immune-mediated disease indications. Inflammatory bowel disease is one indication and Type 1 diabetes is the other. The achievement of the milestone will trigger a payment to Quell of $10 million.

UK-based Compass Pathways Plc has reported positive Phase 3 data for a synthetic psilocybin, and the first classic psychedelic for potential use in treatment-resistant depression. The small molecule drug, COMP360, achieved a clinically meaningful reduction in symptom severity compared with a placebo as measured on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, according to the company.

A new stem cell therapy has been recommended for conditional approval by the European Medicines Agency for patients with a blood cancer who need a transplant following chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy but have no suitable donors. The allogeneic product, Zemcelpro, is derived from umbilical cord blood and contains two components. These are expanded CD34+ cells and unexpanded CD34- cells, each derived from the same cord blood unit.

A small molecule drug that has shown benefits for patients with a type of non-alcoholic liver disease is being recommended for a conditional approval in Europe following a similar decision in 2024 by the US Food and Drug Administration. The drug, resmetirom, works by activating the thyroid hormone receptor-beta which is expressed in the liver, kidneys and pituitary gland and regulates metabolic activity. Reduced levels of thyroid hormones, particularly associated with a reduced activity of the receptor, can lead to a build-up of fat in the liver.

A long-acting treatment for HIV, first approved in the US in 2022, has returned to the market with a new indication – this time as a prophylactic that only needs to the administered twice per year. The drug, lenacapavir, is a synthetic compound that interferes with the life cycle of the HIV virus by binding to the virus’ capsid and inhibiting its replication at multiple stages of its lifecycle. Developed by Gilead Sciences Inc, lenacapavir was first approved as Sunlenca in 2022 for people who had been heavily treated with HIV drugs and become resistant.

France-based Enterome SA has raised $19 million to accelerate development of a microbiome therapy that has shown promise in treating two types of lymphoma. The funds will be used to complete an ongoing Phase 1/2 study of the therapy, EO2463, and prepare for a registrational study. The Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI) of California, US, is a new investor, contributing $9 million to the project, with the balance coming from existing shareholders including Seventure Partners of France and Lundbeckfonden BioCapital of Denmark.

Eli Lilly and Co is to acquire Verve Therapeutics Inc of Boston, US, in a share transaction valued at $1 billion upfront in order to broaden its portfolio of treatments for people at risk of cardiovascular disease. Announced on 17 June, the deal comes two years after the companies entered a collaboration to explore the use of in vivo gene editing to develop therapies for genetic diseases. With a candidate medicine for artherosclerotic cardiovascular disease now in Phase 1b, the companies have decided to merge.

BioNTech SE, developer with Pfizer Inc of the first messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, is to strengthen its position in the growing field of RNA therapeutics with the acquisition of CureVac NV. Both companies have mRNA technologies, both are located in Germany and both have listings on the Nasdaq market in the US. In addition to experience with infectious diseases, both companies are developing candidate therapies for cancer.

Novo Nordisk A/S, developer of the semaglutide and liraglutide injectable medicines for obesity, has enlisted the help of Deep Apple Therapeutics Inc to enlarge its portfolio by discovering new small molecules that can treat obesity as well as other cardiometabolic diseases. The Danish company is to pay up to $812 million to secure the collaboration, which will give it access to an algorithm to screen potential compounds against a chosen target. The target is a non-incretin G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR).

SpliceBio SL, a clinical-stage genetic medicines company in Spain, has received $135 million in Series B financing to advance a new therapy for Stargardt disease, an inherited condition that can lead to the progressive loss of vision and blindness. The financing was co-led by EQT Life Sciences and Sanofi Ventures, with participation from the Roche Venture Fund and existing investors. It will help finance an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of the company’s lead gene therapy candidate SB-007.