Germany-based BioNTech AG is to expand its portfolio of individualised therapies beyond cancer to include infectious disease. Under a new collaboration with Pfizer Inc, the two companies will develop messenger RNA-based vaccines for the prevention of influenza.
The agreement involves an initial payment of $120 million to BioNTech plus potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to up to $305 million.
Crescendo Biologics Ltd has reached a new milestone in a strategic collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd which is directed at developing novel drugs for cancer. The drugs are biologics which are based on the human variable domain of an antibody. The size of the milestone payment wasn’t disclosed but it is the second to be achieved this year under a 2016 collaboration between the two companies, Crescendo announced on 15 August.
A new two-drug monthly regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infected adults has generated positive data in a pivotal Phase 3 study, ViiV Healthcare Ltd announced on 15 August.
The study, ATLAS, met its primary endpoint showing similar efficacy for the once-a-month injectable two-drug treatment compared with a standard of care, daily, oral three-drug regimen.
A Phase 2a study that was evaluating a potential treatment for paediatric patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was stopped early in August after the first three patients showed an increase in liver fat and elevations in serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, raising concerns about liver toxicity.
Orchard Therapeutics Ltd has raised $150 million in a Series C financing round to advance its portfolio of ex vivo gene therapies, the most advanced of which is in registration trials for the treatment of an ultra-rare disease that damages the immune system.
The oversubscribed financing round was led by Deerfield Management Company LP with significant new investments from RA Capital Management and nine other funds. Existing investors also participated in the round including Temasek, Baillie Gifford and Cowen Healthcare Investments.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved an RNA therapeutic developed by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc to treat patients with a rare genetic disease characterised by the build-up of abnormal amyloid protein in peripheral nerves and other organs.
Artios Pharma Ltd, which is developing a novel approach for destroying cancer by acting on DNA repair mechanisms, has raised £65 million from venture capital companies in a “highly oversubscribed” series B round. Among its investors were four large pharmaceutical companies.
H. Lundbeck A/S, the Danish specialist in brain diseases, reported a 9.8% rise in second quarter revenue to DKK 4.7 billion (€631 million) while its operating profit rose by 21.7% in the period to DKK 1.66 billion. The buoyant results were attributed to large increases in sales of the company’s schizophrenia, major depression and hypotension drugs. However the effect of price rises, if any, was not disclosed.
For the first half year, Lundbeck’s revenue rose by 9.3% to nearly DKK 9.3 billion while its operating profit increased by 34% to DKK 3.5 billion.
Evotec AG reported double-digit increases in revenue for its drug discovery and service businesses for the 2018 first-half year, driven by new business from Aptuit, its recently acquired contract research unit. Revenue for the year is expected to grow by more than 30%.
Group revenue was €173.8 million for the first half, up by 67%. Drug discovery revenue was €32 million, up by 52%, while revenue from services to pharmaceutical partners was €163.3 million, up by 61%. There was an overlap of €21.5 million between the two units.
Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Ltd has exercised an option to develop and commercialise a pre-clinical drug candidate that uses the CRISPR gene editing tool to potentially correct mutations in Leber Congenital amaurosis (LCA), a serious eye disorder.