Finance, Grants, Deals

Eli Lilly and Co has entered into an exclusive licencing agreement with Sweden-based Camurus AB to use its technology to deliver incretin products to people with obesity and diabetes over extended periods – thereby reducing frequent administration. Based in Lund, Camurus has developed a technology called FluidCrystal that consists of a lipid-based liquid combined with a dissolved active ingredient. Upon injection, the medical compound is slowly released and gradually degrades in a patient’s tissue.

Sanofi SA is to acquire Blueprint Medicines Corp, expanding its immunology pipeline with a marketed product for systemic mastocytosis, a rare blood disorder that can affect multiple systems in the body. Sanofi is to pay $129 per share in cash for the US company, representing a deal value of $9.1 billion at the transaction close in the third quarter. This figure could rise to $9.5 billion if one of the company’s clinical programmes meets specific development and regulatory milestones.

Indivior Plc, a company that is developing medicines to treat opioid use disorders, has announced plans to consolidate the trading of its shares on Nasdaq in the US. Consequently, it has initiated a delisting from the London Stock Exchange which will take effect on 25 July. “A single primary listing on Nasdaq best reflects the profile of Indivior’s business,” David Wheadon, the company’s chairman, said in a statement on 2 June.

Immunic Inc has raised $65 million from a public share offering to advance its pipeline of small molecule therapies for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The offering consists of warrants to purchase stock in the company which can be exercised at different periods up until 3 June 2030. It closed on 3 June. Immunic could receive up to an additional $130 million if the warrants are exercised in full for cash. The financing was co-led by BVF Partners and Coastlands Capital with Leerink Partners as the bookrunner.

Orionis Biosciences has announced a second strategic collaboration with Genentech to discover and develop a new class of monovalent molecular glue medicines for cancer, in a deal worth $105 million upfront and more than $2 billion in potential milestone payments.

GSK Plc is to expand its portfolio of products for the treatment of liver disease with the acquisition of an asset to treat and prevent the progression of steatotic liver disease (SLD), formerly known as fatty liver disease. Announced on 14 May, the deal features an upfront payment of $1.2 billion for the asset with potential for additional success-based milestones of $800 million. The liver disease affects a significant percentage of the global population and is mainly driven by obesity, type 2 diabetes, and alcohol intake, according to a 2024 review in The Lancet. 

A consortium led by Jeito Capital of France has raised €132 million in new funds for Azafaros BV of the Netherlands enabling it to advance an experimental compound for rare metabolic disorders into Phase 3. Co-leading the Series B round was Forbion, whose operating partner Carlo Incerti is chair of the company’s board of directors. Joining the board as a new member will be Audrey Cacaly, a principal at Forbion Growth, which is a fund supporting late-stage assets.

TILT Biotherapeutics Ltd has raised €22.6 million from the European Innovation Council and other investors to bring its oncolytic virus therapy for patients with ovarian cancer into Phase 2. The funding will also support earlier studies for the product, TILT-123, in other indications.  TILT-123 is an oncolytic adenovirus encoding tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 2. It is designed to work alongside T cell therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors to target and kill cancer cells.

Novartis is to pay up to $1.7 billion to buy Regulus Therapeutics Inc of San Diego, US, in a deal that will strengthen its portfolio of treatments for kidney disease. The deal also puts a spotlight on microRNA, a drug target that affects gene expression without coding for a protein. Regulus has an early clinical stage product for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a serious genetic disorder that can lead to end-stage renal disease. The product, farabursen, is an oligonucleotide designed to inhibit a microRNA known as miR-17.

Isomorphic Labs Ltd, a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence for drug discovery, announced a capital raise of $600 million on 31 March, the company’s first external financing since its launch in 2021. Isomorphic is a spin-out of the DeepMind laboratory of Alphabet Inc, the parent of Google, and led by Demis Hassabis, a Nobel laureate. DeepMind is the developer of the AlphaFold artificial intelligence programme. Isomorphic will use the new funds to develop a portfolio of drugs both in-house and in partnership with Novartis and Eli Lilly and Co.