News

Genentech Inc and its Swiss parent, Roche, have ended a cell therapy partnership with Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc which was focused on developing allogeneic T cell therapies for cancer. The reason for the termination, announced on 10 April, wasn’t given. However it comes at a time when other large companies are making staff redundant or divesting early-stage biotech projects. On 11 April, Syncona, the investment group, announced plans to sell a cell therapy portfolio company to Century Therapeutics Inc. This was to prioritise capital allocation on later-stage assets.

Sumagen Co Ltd, a Korean-Canadian company developing an experimental vaccine for HIV-1, is to start manufacturing the product for use in clinical trials under a new partnership with Naobios SAS of France. Naobios is a contract development and manufacturing organisation. Announced on 15 April, the companies did not disclose the financial terms. There are currently no approved vaccines for HIV, a disease that is estimated to affect 39 million people worldwide. The Sumagen product is based on recombinant genetically modified virus technology.

An experimental gene therapy for the rare neurological disorder, Canavan disease, has been given a regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designation by the US Food and Drug Administration. RMAT designation is a regulatory incentive awarded by the agency to cell or gene therapy products which show promise for treating or reversing the course of a serious disease.

Two small European companies have announced a collaboration under which they plan to repurpose an approved medicine for chemotherapy induced nausea to be used in patients with lung cancer. The business deal was announced on 9 April and involves PlusVitech of Spain and Nanoform Finland Plc of Finland. It focuses on progressing a small Phase 2 study in patients with non-small cell lung cancer refractory to standard treatment. The current formulation of the drug involves the administration of potentially dozens of capsules per day to patients who are frail and may have dysphagia.

Citing a need to conserve capital, the Syncona investment group, has divested its portfolio company Clade Therapeutics Inc to Century Therapeutics Inc of the US. Syncona is to sell Clade for up to $45 million. This includes an upfront consideration of $35 million in a combination of cash and shares in Century, along with potential milestone payments of $10 million. 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is to expand its portfolio of drugs for genetic diseases with the acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences Inc, giving the Boston, US-based company a clinical-stage product for IgA nephropathy. The acquisition, announced on 10 April, has been priced at $65 per share for a total deal value of $4.9 billion. The transaction is expected to close before the end of June.

The cardiovascular medicines field, which recently saw Novo Nordisk A/S acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals of Germany, has also witnessed a new deal in medical technology. On 5 April, Johnson & Johnson Inc announced an agreement to acquire Shockwave Medical Inc, a US company with a catheter-based technology for treating the build-up of calcium deposits in the body. J&J is to pay $335 per share in cash for Shockwave, giving an enterprise value of $13.1 billion.

An international syndicate, led by Medicxi Ventures of the UK, has invested in a Chinese biotech company which is building a portfolio of small molecule drugs and biologics to treat cancer. The recipient, D3 Bio of Shanghai, has three compounds in clinical development, and aspires to build a portfolio around multiple oncology programmes and indications. The newest round, announced on 8 April, raised $62 million of which Medicxi contributed $40 million. This brings total funding for the company up to $250 million. 

Obsidian Therapeutics Inc of Cambridge, US, has raised $160.5 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing round to advance a tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy in the clinic. TILs are treatments where tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes are removed from a patient’s tumour, grown in large numbers in a laboratory, and returned to the patient to help the immune system fight cancer. TILS are polyclonal cells with diverse receptors. Their advantage is said to be their ability to detect a wide range of tumour-associated antigens.

Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, has been given a more prominent position for the treatment of multiple myeloma following a Phase 3 trial showing it reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 59% compared with standard therapies. On 5 April, a new indication as a second-line therapy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. This followed a recommendation for an upgrade by the agency’s oncologic drugs advisory committee.