Finance, Grants, Deals

Pfizer Inc is to pay $4.9 billion to acquire a three-year old company, Metsera Inc, which is developing drugs for weight management giving it a selection of candidate products that can be delivered orally and by injection and which include both amylin and incretin mimetics. The amylin-based treatments restore sensitivity to leptin, a satiety hormone that enables people to feel naturally full after eating. The incretins, which include the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs, mimic hormones in the gut that help regulate blood sugar and appetite.

Netherlands’s- based VectorY Therapeutics BV has negotiated an option and licensing agreement with a US manufacturer of adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsids ahead of making its first regulatory filings for clinical trials of a new drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The supplier of the tool is Shape Therapeutics Inc of Seattle, Washington which is developing capsids for genetic medicines for difficult-to-reach tissues. Capsids are the protein shells of AAV viruses that can be used to carry a working copy of a gene into the nucleus of a target cell. 

Roche is to acquire 89bio Inc of San Francisco, US, to expand its cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease portfolio with a drug that is being developed for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). MASH (previously called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) is a liver disease that develops when fat builds up and causes inflammation. Without treatment, it can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Novartis is to spend $1.4 billion to expand its pipeline of drugs for cardiovascular diseases with the acquisition of US-based Tourmaline Bio Inc. Tourmaline’s lead asset, pacibekitug, a monoclonal antibody in development for atherosclrotic cardiovascular disease. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is caused by a build-up of plaque in the arterial walls and includes coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. 

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) of the UK and Crown Bioscience have formed a strategic global alliance to accelerate innovation in radiopharmaceuticals through an integrated translational biology platform. The collaboration aims to support companies across the drug development pipeline by combining MDC’s expertise in radiochemistry, imaging and tissue analysis with Crown Bioscience’s preclinical oncology capabilities.

Quotient Sciences and CPI, a UK manufacturing entity, have agreed to form a joint venture aimed at accelerating the development of RNA-based therapies. The partnership, announced on 2 September, will combine Quotient’s Translational Pharmaceutics platform with CPI’s expertise in RNA manufacture and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) encapsulation, creating what the partners describe as the first fully integrated offering for mRNA drug product development.

Servier has entered into an agreement with Kaerus Bioscience, a UK-based biotechnology company co-founded by Medicxi, to acquire KER-0193, a potential treatment for Fragile X syndrome (FXS). Financial details include an upfront payment, with development and commercial earn-outs that could bring the total value of the deal to $450 million.

Enlaza Therapeutics Inc and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc agreed to collaborate on drug discovery aimed at creating small format drug conjugates and T cell engagers to treat certain autoimmune diseases and to improve conditioning in sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. Enlaza will receive $45 million in an upfront payment and equity investment. Vertex will work with Enlaza’s covalent biologics platform, called War-Lock, which uses proprietary non-natural amino acids to precision-engineer biologic medicines, resulting in an expanded therapeutic window. 

Replicate Bioscience has entered into a multi-year research collaboration with Novo Nordisk A/S to develop self-replicating RNA (srRNA) therapies for obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases. The deal combines Novo Nordisk’s expertise in metabolic disorders with Replicate’s proprietary srRNA platform, designed to enable scalable and durable protein expression.

Britain’s plans for expanding its position as a global centre for biopharmaceutical research and development hit a barrier on 10 September when Merck & Co Inc announced a decision to stop development of a £1 billion research centre in London, and vacate two other laboratories in the city.