News

Three scientists who discovered how cells sense and adapt to the availability of oxygen have been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. William Kaelin Jr of Harvard Medical School, US; Peter Ratcliffe of the University of Oxford, UK; and Gregg Semenza of  Johns Hopkins University, US identified molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen, discoveries that paved the way for new strategies to treat anaemia, cancer and many other diseases.

MiroBio Ltd, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, has raised £27 million in Series A funding from a syndicate of international specialist life science investors to develop antibody modulators of immune cell receptors for auto-immune disease. It is one of the largest A rounds for a European company this year.

Scientists at the Netherlands Cancer Institute have reported positive results from a trial of a new combination therapy that includes an inhibitor of the B-Raf protein and an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer. The treatment was pioneered by René Bernards and colleagues after they discovered why patients with BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer were insensitive to BRAF inhibition.

Johnson & Johnson Inc became the latest pharmaceutical company on 1 October to settle lawsuits brought by two counties in Ohio over its alleged role in the US opioid epidemic. J&J agreed to a settlement of $20.4 million, thereby avoiding a trial in federal court. The settlement includes no admission of liability.

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.

Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic A/S has won approval for Jynneos, a vaccine to prevent smallpox and monkeypox diseases for people at high risk of infection or in cases of a public health emergency. The development of Jynneos is the result of a 15-year partnership between Bavarian Nordic and the US government. The vaccine will become part of the US strategic national stockpile, which is the country’s largest supply of potentially life-saving medicines.