Finance, Grants, Deals

DiogenX SAS of France has raised €27.5 million in Series A finance from a venture capital syndicate led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Roche Venture Fund to advance a candidate drug for type 1 diabetes into clinical development. The drug is a recombinant protein that modulates the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling pathway, a regulator of key cellular functions. In preclinical studies it has shown an ability to regenerate insulin-producing beta cells, according to Johannes Zanzinger, investment director at the Boehringer Ingelheim fund.

Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH is to work with the Belgian pharma company UCB SA to discover new radiotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and immune-related disorders. Announced on 11 May, the agreement follows a decision by Ariceum’s investors to provide a further €22.75 million in capital to the company to progress its pipeline.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) is to pay $1.7 billion to acquire a company that will expand its presence in drugs for rare haematological diseases. It is the Swedish company’s biggest deal to date. The target company is CTI BioPharma Corp of Seattle, US which has a recently approved product for adult patients with myelofibrosis and thrombocytopenia, a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low.

Astellas Pharma Inc is to pay $5.9 billion to acquire Iveric Bio Inc of the US giving it an ophthalmology asset under review at the US Food and Drug Administration. The asset, avacincaptad pegol, has been developed for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. The FDA is expected to take a decision on marketing in August.

GSK Plc highlighted progress with its vaccine portfolio in presenting its first quarter financial results on 26 April. Shingrix, its vaccine for shingles, produced sales of £833 million during the quarter or 12% of total group turnover. This exceeded total sales from respiratory and immunology products and was well above revenue from oncology medicines.

Just a year after closing a €60 million Series B financing, Tubulis GmbH of Germany has concluded a licensing agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb Company to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). Announced on 20 April, the deal will give BMS rights to Tubulis’ technology platform to develop ADCs for solid tumours. The number of products to be developed wasn’t disclosed.

GSK Plc has reached an agreement with BELLUS Health Inc under which it will acquire the Canadian company for $14.75 per share of common stock in cash giving a deal value of $2 billion. BELLUS is a specialty pharma company whose lead product, camlipixant, is in a Phase 3 programme for refractory chronic cough. The compound is an antagonist of P2X3, a protein which functions as a ligand-gated ion channel.

argenx SE and Genmab A/S, both developers of antibody therapeutics with listings on European stock exchanges and the US Nasdaq market, have announced a deal that will see them jointly discover, develop and commercialise new products. The deal will leverage each company’s expertise by adding immunology to Genmab’s set of skills while expanding argenx’s therapeutic reach into oncology. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH has raised a further €22.75 million from a venture capital syndicate to advance its radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The new funding complements an earlier Series A financing round of €25 million, bringing the total amount secured up to €47.75 million. The financing was co-led by new investors Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from the existing investor Pureos Bioventures.

Merck & Co Inc is to acquire the California-based biotechnology company Prometheus Biosciences Inc for $10.8 billion giving it a group of clinical assets directed against immune-mediated diseases. The target company’s lead asset is a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions. Merck, through a subsidiary, will buy Prometheus for $200 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.