Forbion, the Netherlands-based venture group, has launched a new company, Tessellate BIO BV, to develop treatments for cancers that exploit deficiencies in two or more genes leading to cell death. Known as synthetic lethality, the approach has particular relevance for precision medicine. Tessellate was founded by BioGeneration Ventures, a joint venture with Forbion that focuses on company creation and early-stage finance.
The Roche Group is to pay $7.1 billion upfront to acquire Telavant Holdings Inc, developer of a late-stage antibody therapeutic for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The deal also includes a near-term milestone payment of $150 million.
Telavant’s lead product, RVT-3101, is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits TL1A, a member of the tumour necrosis family which is expressed in immune cells. It is abnormally expressed in autoimmune diseases, including IBD.
Agomab Therapeutics NV, a Belgian biotech founded in 2017 to explore the potential of a critical biological pathway to achieve tissue repair, closed a $100 million Series C financing round on 11 October to support clinical development of a drug for fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease. The drug, AGMB-129, is a small molecule inhibitor of ALK5 (also known as TGF beta receptor 1), a regulator of fibrosis. Fidelity Management & Research Company led the round, with participation from new investors EQT Life Sciences, Canaan, Dawn Biopharma and existing investors.
MinervaX ApS of Denmark announced receipt on 11 October of €54 million in an upsized venture financing event to support its candidate prophylactic vaccine against the Group B streptococcus bacterium, a cause of serious illness in newborns. The financing syndicate includes new investors EQT Life Sciences and OrbiMed, with participation from nine other investment groups. It will raise MinervaX’s financial reserves to €125 million, enabling the company to start a Phase 3 trial of the vaccine for maternal immunisations in 2024. A vaccine is also under investigation for older adults.
The European Medicines Agency has given a positive opinion to a new drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder primarily affecting males, which can lead to progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. The developer is Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG of Switzerland. The drug, Agamree (vamorolone), is a small molecule anti-inflammatory medicine that is being positioned as an alternative to corticosteroids, the current standard of care.
Pfizer Inc has received regulatory approval in the US for a personalised, or precision, medicine for lung cancer that demonstrated efficacy in a single-arm trial in both treatment naïve and previously treated patients with BRAF-V600E mutant metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The medicine, Braftovi (encorafenib) and Mektovi (binimetinib), is a combination therapy that was first approved in 2018, but has since been updated. The newest approval includes two companion diagnostics that can identify BRAF V600E mutations in plasma or tumour tissue.
In a boost for precision medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb Co is to spend up to $5.8 billion to buy Mirati Therapeutics Inc of the US which uses molecular biology to design drugs that are intended to arrest cancer growth by targeting specific genetic mutations. BMS will pay $58 per share for the precision medicine company, representing an outlay of $4.8 billion. If Mirati shareholders decide to buy additional non-tradeable contingent value rights, the value of the acquisition could rise to as much as $5.8 billion.
On 4 October, Novartis completed the spin-off of Sandoz, its generic and biosimilar business unit, enabling it to focus exclusively on the development and sale of proprietary medicines. The long anticipated transaction involved the listing of Sandoz Group AG shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich, Switzerland and its American Depositary Receipts on an over-the-counter market in the US. Each shareholder of Novartis received one Sandoz share for every five Novartis shares held, or one Sandoz ADR for every five Novartis ADRs.
The radiopharmaceutical sector has a new player. This is Eli Lilly and Co which is to pay $1.4 billion to acquire POINT Biopharma Global Inc of Indianapolis, US, a clinical stage company with candidate radioligand therapies for the treatment of cancer. The deal, valued at $12.50 per share in cash, has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by the end of the year.
Sanofi SA is to expand its portfolio with the in-licensing of a candidate vaccine targeting extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, a gram negative bacterium that causes urinary tract infections and potentially sepsis. The vaccine was developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc and is currently in Phase 3 development