Finance, Grants, Deals

 Immutrin Ltd has raised £65 million to advance its lead antibody therapy to treat ATTR cardiomyopathy, a serious form of amyloidosis. The oversubscribed Series A financing was led by new investor Frazier Life Sciences with participation from F-Prime, Qiming Venture Partners, SR One and the biotech company’s founding investors Cambridge Innovation Capital and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, UK. Amyloidosis is caused by misfolded proteins that aggregate into amyloid fibrils and accumulate in tissues and organs, leading to irreversible organ damage. 

Merck & Co Inc is to expand its oncology portfolio with the acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc of Foster City, California, US. Announced on 25 March, the deal will give Merck an early-clinical stage small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, TERN-701, for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). The target is an abnormal fusion gene which drives the growth of cancer cells in both CML and some types of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The Belgian biotech Galapagos NV has announced a new strategy focused on the development of potential chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. If executed, the strategy would involve recalibrating a long-term relationship with Gilead Sciences Inc with whom it has been working since 2015. In separate statements on 23 March, Gilead announced the acquisition of the privately-held US biotech company Ouro Medicines Inc, and Galapagos said it is in discussions with Gilead to share the cost of developing the target company’s lead asset.

Novartis is to pay $2 billion upfront and up to $1 billion in milestone payments for a US company with a therapy that has shown early, significant impact in treating breast cancer. The therapy, SNV4818, is a small molecule drug which entered clinical development in February 2025. It is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with breast cancer and other solid tumours. The breast cancer indication was highlighted by Novartis in an announcement on 20 March because of the prevalence of cancers caused by mutations in the PIK3CA gene. 

R1 Therapeutics Inc of California, US, has made its market debut with $77.5 million in venture finance and an exclusive global license to develop and commercialise a new product for a disorder caused by chronic kidney disease. Announced on 17 March, the financing was co-led by Abingworth LLP of the UK, F-Prime Capital of Cambridge, US, and the US DaVita Venture Group.

Gilead Sciences Inc has decided to turn a successful collaboration into ownership with an agreement to buy Arcellx Inc, a developer of cell therapies. The offer is for $115 per share in cash and one contingent value right of $5 per share which represents an implied equity value of $7.8 billion payable at the close. The two companies have been collaborating since 2022 on a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for patients with multiple myeloma.

BC Platforms AG of Switzerland has struck another collaboration with an institution that collects anonymised data from patients, significantly expanding its repertoire of information that can be used in medical research. The collaboration is with OmicsBank, a US-based company with access to patient data from emerging markets. Specifically, the partnership will give BC Platforms rights to data from India and the United Arab Emirates, countries which have been under-represented in global pharmaceutical research. The financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed. 

AstraZeneca Plc is to expand its drug manufacturing and research and development presence in China with an investment of $15 billion through 2030. China is already the company’s second largest market after the US, as well as a significant source of medical research and business collaborations. The new investment will build on this foundation. AstraZeneca announced the plan on 29 January, concurrent with a visit by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to China to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

GSK Plc has reach an agreement to acquire US-based RAPT Therapeutics Inc for $2.2 billion, strengthening its position in the field of medicines for inflammatory and immunologic diseases. The US company’s lead product, ozureprubart, is a monoclonal antibody that is being developed as a prophylactic against food allergens. It targets immunoglobulin E (IgE) which is the mode of action of at least one other approved biologic. Other treatments include allergen-specific immunotherapies. The standard of care is avoidance of allergens.

Amgen Inc has selected two preclinical European biotech companies for deals in oncology with the expectation that they will help the company deliver new treatments for acute myeloid leukaemia and small cell lung and colorectal cancers. Total outlays for the two deals could be as much as $1.46 billion. The largest transaction involves the acquisition of Dark Blue Therapeutics Ltd of the UK for up to $840 million. The smaller deal is a collaboration with Germany-based DISCO Pharmaceuticals GmbH which is potentially valued at $618 million plus royalties.