Erytech Pharma SA has teamed up with SQZ Biotechnologies Co, a spin-out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to develop antigen-specific immune modulating therapies for cancer. The collaboration uses Erytech’s technique for encapsulating drug substances inside red blood cells to inform drug development by SQZ. The MIT spin-out is a cell therapy company.
The Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall SA has received a €120 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support research into new treatments for inflammatory and dermatological diseases.
The loan is being granted under a European Commission ‘Investment Plan for Europe’ that is mobilising public funds for new technologies and employment. The company will direct the funds towards research into pathologies such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and actinic keratosis, a type of precancerous cutaneous lesion.
AbbVie Inc is making a cash and stock offer valued at $63 billion for the specialty pharma company Allergan Plc, a move that will diversify its portfolio ahead of the loss of patent protection for its lead rheumatoid arthritis product Humira (adalimumab). Humira generated revenue of $20 billion last year, or 68% of AbbVie’s total revenue, but it will lose patent protection in 2023.
The offer is about four times Allergan’s 2018 revenue of $15.8 billion and represents a premium of 45% over the target company’s closing share price on 24 June. Allergan is based in Dublin, Ireland.
Luxembourg-based Vesalius Biocapital Partners has closed its third life science fund, raising €120 million for later-stage European companies. The fundraising includes a commitment of €30 million from the European Investment Fund and new and existing investors from Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and North Africa.
The UK medical charity LifeArc is to make a $30 million equity investment in the antibody therapeutics company Kymab Ltd along with a licencing agreement giving it rights to the company’s drug discovery platform. The investment is taking place in two stages. An initial $10 million has already been paid, while the final $20 million will come at a future date. Kymab will also receive a percentage of revenues that LifeArc generates from any products discovered and commercialised using its technology.
Jean-Paul Kress, formerly of Biogen Inc and Sanofi Genzyme, is to take over as chief executive of MorphoSys AG on 1 September, succeeding Simon Moroney, the company’s co-founder and CEO. Dr Kress will assume the leadership position just as MorphoSys seeks to register and commercialise its first wholly-owned product tafasitamab for diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
NOXXON Pharma NV is to test its RNA oligonucleotide drug NOX-A12 in a new cancer indication after signing an agreement with an unidentified large pharma company to conduct preclinical studies of the drug.
A combination treatment for cystic fibrosis that targets patients with a specific genetic mutation, has now been approved in the US for children six years and older. The treatment, Symdeko (tezacaftor/ivacaftor), targets a common mutation in the cystic fibrosis gene – the F508del mutation – which can lead to severe respiratory and digestive problems. The cystic fibrosis gene encodes the cystic fibrosis conductance transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein which controls the movement of chloride and sodium in and out of cells in the human body.
MorphoSys AG said that a single-arm Phase 2 study of its monoclonal antibody, tafasitamab (MOR208), in patients with relapsed lymphoma met its primary endpoint, paving the way for completion of a regulatory submission in the US by the end of the year.
Calliditas Therapeutics AB of Sweden has entered into a licencing agreement with Shanghai-based Everest Medicines II Ltd to develop and commercialise its candidate drug Nefecon (budesonide) for the Chinese market. Nefecon is currently in a Phase 3 pivotal trial for the treatment of patients with the chronic autoimmune kidney disease IgA nephropathy. The agreement gives Everest exclusive rights to develop and, depending on regulatory approval, sell the drug in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore.