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.
UK-based CHARM Therapeutics Ltd has raised $80 million from an international investor syndicate to support a preclinical product, based on a novel algorithm, for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). AML accounts for about one out of three leukaemias in adults in the US, but for those over the age of 65 years, the incidence is much higher. Announced on 2 September, the financing was co-led by new investors New Enterprise Associates and SR One with participation from existing groups including NVentures, the investment arm of the chipmaker Nvidia Corp.
Scientists across 25 countries representing 51 different nationalities have been awarded €761 million from the European Union to support original research in the physical and life sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The awards were announced on 4 September by the European Research Council, a public body established by the European Commission in 2007. The programme falls under Horizon Europe, the European Union’s seven-year programme for research and development.
Cyted Health, a UK diagnostics company with a focus on gastrointestinal health, has raised $44 million to expand its business in the US, taking advantage of a Food and Drug Administration approval of its lead product and experience using the device for patients in the UK. Announced on 2 September, the Series B funding is being led by the private equity group EQT Life Sciences and co-led by Advent Life Sciences and the British Business Bank. It follows FDA approval of the product EndoSign in 2024.
Novartis Pharma AG has entered into an option and collaboration agreement with BioArctic AB to develop an antibody treatment for a neurodegenerative disorder that takes advantage of the Swedish company’s technology for helping drugs cross the blood-brain barrier. The target for the prospective treatment has not been disclosed. But the transporter technology is public and is being used by BioArctic in multiple projects. It is based on the transferrin receptor, a protein responsible for the delivery of iron to cells. This can also enable antibody drugs to cross the barrier.
Anocca AB has raised SEK 440 million ($46 million) from Mellby Gård, a Swedish investment group, and existing shareholders to conduct a programme of trials of T cell immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer. The trials will investigate multiple approaches for targeting mutations in the KRAS gene which is involved in the regulation of cell division. KRAS mutations are drivers of pancreatic cancer, as well as lung and colorectal cancers.