News

The Food and Drug Administration is to allow Intellia Therapeutics Inc to include the US in its global trial of a genome editing therapy for hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare protein deficiency that can cause swelling in multiple parts of the body. To date, the Phase 1/2 study has been taking place at sites in the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK. The addition of sites in the US will increase the geographical reach of the programme, as well as the number of patients receiving the experimental therapy. Intellia is based in Cambridge, US.

Netherlands-based argenx SE expects to report data from multiple clinical trials of its lead product Vyvgart (efgartigimod) this year and in 2024 in a bid to secure a pivotal position in the sector for severe autoimmune diseases. Specifically, the company aims to build a market position around its knowledge of how the blockade of a protein called the neonatal Fc receptor can help patients overcome a host of serious pathologies.

Bayer AG will install a new chief executive on 1 June as it looks to expand its business across the agricultural, pharmaceuticals and consumer health sectors. The new CEO, Bill Anderson, is a former Roche executive with experience in the development and commercialisation of new medicines. He will take up the position on 1 June, succeeding Werner Baumann who has been with Bayer for 35 years.

MorphoSys AG is to stop work on its preclinical research programmes and reduce its workforce in Germany by about 17% in order to marshal resources for its late-stage oncology pipeline. The company announced the decision on 2 March to the Nasdaq and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges where it is listed, alongside a separate press release for investors. MorphoSys is due to report its 2022 fourth quarter and annual results on 15 March.

Pfizer Inc is reportedly holding talks to acquire Seagen Inc, the developer of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on 26 February. This comes several months after Seagen was courted by Merck & Co Inc, but these negotiations failed to conclude. The discussions with Merck reportedly centered on a deal worth $40 billion or more. Seagen currently has a market value of about $30 billion and would be expected to seek a premium over that price, the newspaper said.

Bolstered by $60 million in receipts from a private share placement, Immunic Inc ended 2022 with cash and investments of $116.4 million, enabling it to fund the clinical development of its products for multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and celiac disease into the fourth quarter of 2024. The financing, completed in October 2022, was supported by new and existing investors including Deep Track Capital, Commodore Capital and BVF Partners LP.

Galapagos NV ended 2022 with a new chief executive and a restructured pipeline that will expand the company’s research and development capabilities into biologics and cell therapies in addition to its traditional small molecule franchise. At a therapeutic level, the company dropped activities in fibrosis and kidney disease and will concentrate on immunology and oncology.

Genmab A/S continued to derive significant revenue from partnerships with large pharma companies in 2022 while investing heavily in proprietary product development. Revenue grew to DKK 14.59 billion (€1.96 billion) in the year, up by 72% from a year earlier. The Danish company spent DKK 5.562 billion, or 38% of this revenue, on research and development.

Novartis has decided to divest a clinical-stage asset for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in light of a corporate reorganisation that will see it spin-off its Sandoz generics unit and refocus its proprietary medicines business on a limited number of therapeutic areas. This will result in the ending of a collaboration with Pliant Therapeutics Inc of South San Francisco, US. Pliant disclosed the decision in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 17 February.

UCB SA continued to invest significant sums in research and development in 2022 even as group revenue declined under the weight of patent expires. The Belgian-based company saw a 4% decline in revenue to €5.5 billion from a year earlier largely due to the loss of exclusivity for the epilepsy drugs Vimpat and Keppra. At the same time, the company maintained a high level of investment, spending 30% of revenue on new product development during the year, up from 28% in 2021.