Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB is to acquire the US specialty pharmaceutical company Dova Pharmaceuticals Inc in a bid to broaden its haematology and immunology portfolios. The transaction is valued at up to $915 million and consists of a cash offer plus a contingency payment for shareholders if Dova’s lead product is approved for a new indication by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Microsoft Corp has made another foray into the biological sciences under a new collaboration with Novartis which will see both companies use artificial intelligence (AI) to energise drug discovery. The partnership, announced on 1 October, will involve joint research on new therapies for macular degeneration and support the development of cell and gene therapies. It will also use AI to explore new designs for future drugs.
STipe Therapeutics ApS, a 2018 spinout of Aarhus University in Denmark, has raised €20 million in Series A financing to advance a technology for targeting solid tumours by modulating the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway. This pathway is a major driver of innate immunity.
Switzerland-based ADC Therapeutics SA has launched an initial public offering of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange which is expected to raise approximately $200 million. This comes ahead of an expected regulatory filing for its lead cancer therapy ADCT-402 in the second half of 2020.
BioNTech SE has formalised plans to raise approximately $250 million by way of an initial public share offering on the US Nasdaq market to support its portfolio of personalised medicines for cancer and infectious diseases. The company plans to offer 13.2 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) to the public while underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.98 million ADSs.
JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank and SVB Leerink are acting as lead joint book running managers.
A new US company, Trucode Gene Repair Inc, has been launched with $34 million in financing from Kleiner Perkins and GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet Inc. The company is advancing an in vivo gene editing technology designed to correct mutations that cause genetic disorders such as sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis.
Evotec SE is to conduct small molecule drug development across multiple therapeutic areas for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd under a new multi-year collaboration designed to deliver clinical drug candidates. The upfront fee hasn’t been disclosed, but preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones could amount to more than $170 million per programme. The agreement covers at least five drug discovery programmes.
The French cell therapy start-up, TreeFrog Therapeutics SAS, has raised a further €3 million in funding for its stem cell production technology, only months after a €7.1 million Series A financing round. Based in Bordeaux, TreeFrog has a platform for mass producing stem cells, reportedly at a significantly lower cost than existing methods.
The platform uses a three-dimensional cell culture system to produce stem cells in bioreactors with short lead times. The new funding includes €450,000 from the French government and €2.4 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
H. Lundbeck A/S is to acquire the US biopharmaceutical company Alder BioPharmaceuticals Inc in order to add migraine to its disease coverage and build expertise in monoclonal antibody technology. The transaction is valued at up to $1.95 billion net of cash.
The European Investment Fund (EIF), together with institutions in Germany and Austria, has launched a new fund to support early-stage drug discovery projects sourced predominantly from academic institutions in both countries.
The fund, KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH (KHAN-I), is based in Dortmund, Germany and has capital of €60 million. Half of the initial capital, or €30 million, is being provided by the EIF, which is part of the European Investment Bank Group. The fund will invest in either new project ideas covered by collaboration agreements or in start-up companies.