News

The Danish government has appointed the BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen as the site for a new project to support entrepreneurs involved in quantum science research. The initiative adds a new dimension to the institute, which was created in 2017 to advance research and enterprise in the life science industry. The institute was started by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent charity which owns Novo Holdings A/S, the majority shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S. The foundation provided grant funding for the BII until 2021 when it became financially independent.

A Belgian start-up company, Dualyx NV, has raised €40 million in Series A financing to start clinical development of a new antibody therapeutic for autoimmune diseases. The antibody, DT-001, is an agonist of a receptor found on immune cells which is widely regarded as a master control switch in immune modulation. By agonising this receptor, DT-001 has been shown to activate regulatory T cells (Tregs) which keep the immune system from becoming overactive. The receptor is tumour necrosis factor receptor 2.

H. Lundbeck A/S scored two important regulatory goals in April and May, just weeks after closing its books for the first quarter, a period during which it produced its highest three-month revenue figure ever. Revenue was DKK 5 billion (€670 million) for the period, up by 15% from a year earlier.

DiogenX SAS of France has raised €27.5 million in Series A finance from a venture capital syndicate led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Roche Venture Fund to advance a candidate drug for type 1 diabetes into clinical development. The drug is a recombinant protein that modulates the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling pathway, a regulator of key cellular functions. In preclinical studies it has shown an ability to regenerate insulin-producing beta cells, according to Johannes Zanzinger, investment director at the Boehringer Ingelheim fund.

Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH is to work with the Belgian pharma company UCB SA to discover new radiotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and immune-related disorders. Announced on 11 May, the agreement follows a decision by Ariceum’s investors to provide a further €22.75 million in capital to the company to progress its pipeline.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) is to pay $1.7 billion to acquire a company that will expand its presence in drugs for rare haematological diseases. It is the Swedish company’s biggest deal to date. The target company is CTI BioPharma Corp of Seattle, US which has a recently approved product for adult patients with myelofibrosis and thrombocytopenia, a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low.

The World Health Organization has declared an end to the emergency phase of Covid-19, but cautioned that risks still remain for the appearance of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In a statement on 5 May, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said  Covid-19 will no longer be categorised as a public health emergency of international concern. But its status as a pandemic will remain until these risks diminish.

Going forward, the pandemic “appears to be in transition to a more endemic situation globally,” the WHO said.

Transgene SA of France has appointed Alessandro Riva, the current chairman, as chairman and chief executive officer, and confirmed its commitment to its oncolytic virus portfolio. This follows a decision by AstraZeneca Plc to end a research and development collaboration with the company and hand back an oncolytic virus asset poised to start clinical development in the US. According to Transgene, AstraZeneca took the decision after a strategic review of its pipeline. The French company said the decision would have a “limited impact” on its financial guidance.

argenx SE of the Netherlands continued the expansion of its antibody treatment for autoimmune diseases, Vyvgart (efgartigimod), with regulatory filings for a new formulation of the product in the US, Japan and Europe. Vyvgart is a biologic that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in late 2021 and subsequently in the EU and Japan to treat generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG), a chronic autoimmune disease.

MorphoSys AG accelerated the clinical development of its two top cancer drugs in the first quarter whilst also stopping work on preclinical programmes and reducing the size of its workforce. Jean-Paul Kress, the chief executive, told investors on 4 May that the company’s strategic focus is to complete development of pelabresib, a small molecule drug for myelofibrosis, and expand indications for Monjuvi (tafasitamab), an approved antibody  which was launched in the US for second-line diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in 2020.