Finance, Grants, Deals

Novartis is to work with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc on a potential treatment to restore liver function in patients with end-stage liver disease. The three-year research agreement will test potential small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics against a target discovered by Novartis in order to promote the regrowth of functional liver cells. The goal is to provide an alternative to transplantation for patients with liver failure, the Swiss company announced on 9 January.

Novartis is to pay $800 million upfront to acquire the UK gene therapy company Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd whose lead product GT005 is in clinical development for geographic atrophy, an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The acquisition will strengthen Novartis’ position in gene therapies for the eye nearly two years after its licensee Spark Therapeutics was taken over by Roche. Spark had an approved gene therapy for retinal disease at the time it joined the Roche group.

Sanofi SA stepped up its acquisition activities in late December 2021 with plans to buy a US company with an advanced biologics platform. Sanofi is to pay $1 billion upfront for San-Francisco-based Amunix Pharmaceuticals Inc whose lead product, AMX-818, is poised to enter clinical development in early 2022 for patients with HER2 breast cancer. Amunix is developing biologics that crosslink tumours and T cells in order to induce the destruction of cancer cells.

Venture capitalists, led by Ysios Capital and Forbion Growth, have assembled $80 million for NorthSea Therapeutics BV, enabling the Netherlands-based company to progress its lead product for non-alcoholic steatohepatitus (NASH) into Phase 3. The Series C financing was also supported by Novo Seeds and Sofinnova, among others.

Genenta Science SpA, an Italian gene therapy company, began trading on the US Nasdaq market on 15 December following an initial public offering that yielded gross proceeds to the company of about $36 million. On the second day of trading, the company had a market capitalisation of $196 million. Genenta is one of many European company to list on Nasdaq in order to broaden its investor base and establish a commercial presencez in the US.

Vaccitech Plc, co-inventor of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, is to acquire a US company with a complementary technology platform, positioning it for a further geographical expansion. The target company, Avidea Technologies Inc, has a similar research history to Vaccitech, but a different discovery platform. Vaccitech is paying $40 million upfront for Avidea of which $12.5 million is cash and $27.5 million is in shares. There is also a possibility of milestone payments. Vaccitech is listed on the US Nasdaq market.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co has launched its second preclinical collaboration with Immatics NV in order to explore the potential of an antibody-like bispecific molecule as a treatment for solid tumours. The newest agreement, announced on 14 December, gives BMS exclusive rights to an engineered bispecific molecule consisting of a receptor that binds to a cancer target and a region that recruits T cells to the tumour site to become activated. The upfront payment is $150 million.

Depixus SAS has raised €30.6 million in Series A financing to support development of technology that can extract information from DNA, RNA and proteins, thereby generating new insights into the function of the human genome. The round was co-led by Lansdowne Partners and the PSIM Fund which is operated by Bpifrance on behalf of the French state. The new financing brings the company’s total equity and grant funding to more than €41 million.

Switzerland-based Vifor Pharma Group is to be acquired by CSL Ltd of Australia for CHF 10.9 billion ($11.7 billion) creating one of the largest companies in nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The merger comes less than a month after Vifor itself purchased two smaller companies.

Sanofi SA is to expand its vaccine capacity with the acquisition of a privately-owned Austrian company, Origimm Biotechnology GmbH, that has a candidate product for acne vulgaris, a common, chronic skin disease. Acne vulgaris is linked to the bacterium Cutibacterium acnes, a complex Gram positive bacteria. The therapeutic vaccine, which is based on recombinant proteins, entered clinical studies in the third quarter.