News

Organon, a recent spin-off of Merck & Co Inc, is to expand its portfolio of assets in reproductive health with the acquisition of Forendo Pharma Ltd of Finland. Organon has agreed to pay up to $954 for the Finnish company, a figure that includes potential outlays for the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Forendo’s lead product is being developed for endometriosis, a chronic condition that affects up to one in 10 women of reproductive age.

Agomab Therapeutics NV is to acquire Origo Biopharma SL of Spain for an undisclosed sum in order to advance its strategy of targeting growth factor signalling pathways for the development of new therapies. The acquisition comes less than a year after Agomab, which is based in Belgium, raised $74 million in a Series B financing round led by Redmile Group of San Francisco, with participation from Cormorant Asset Management LLC of Boston, US.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd is to acquire the cell therapy company GammaDelta Therapeutics Ltd, exercising an option that it obtained in 2017 from the UK company’s venture capital sponsor Abingworth LLP. Takeda is to make a pre-negotiated upfront payment for GammaDelta as well as potential development and regulatory milestone payments. In 2017, Takeda committed to invest up to $100 million in GammaDelta which included an equity investment.

AstraZeneca Plc expects revenue this year, excluding results from its Covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, to increase by a low twenties percentage, in line with earlier guidance. The forecast follows the publication of third quarter results on 12 November which showed total revenue of $9.9 billion, up by 50% from a year earlier. The results incorporate revenue from Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc, a recent acquisition, as well as receipts from Vaxzevria.Total revenue for the nine month-period was $25.4 billion, up by 32%.

Blackstone Life Sciences, an active investor in the biopharma sector, is to provide $150 million upfront to Autolus Therapeutics Plc to support its lead T cell product, obecabtagene autoleucel, for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), as well as earlier oncology projects.

Daprodustat, a candidate drug for the treatment of anaemia due to chronic kidney disease, has generated positive data in five Phase 3 trials – the first oral inhibitor of an enzyme linked to a protein complex to show efficacy without an increased cardiovascular risk. Data from two of the trials were published in The New England Journal of Medicine on 5 November 2021.

A candidate antiviral for the treatment of Covid-19 has delivered an 89% reduction in the risk of Covid-19 related hospitalisation or death compared with placebo in a Phase 2/3 clinical study, the developer Pfizer Inc, announced on 5 November. On the recommendation of the trial’s independent data monitoring committee, the study was stopped and data will be sent to the US Food and Drug Administration to support an emergency use authorisation.

Novartis has reached an agreement with Roche to sell its minority stake in the company in order to raise money for its proprietary medicines. The announcement, on 4 November, follows Novartis’ launch of a strategic review of its Sandoz generics unit which could result in a divestiture. The sale of shares in Roche is expected to generate $20.7 billion based on a price of $388.99 per share for 53.3 million bearer shares.

Valneva SE, the France-based vaccine company, has raised $102 million in a global share offering to specialised investors which included an offering of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) in the US and a private share placement in Europe and elsewhere. The proceeds are expected to be used for the company’s vaccine portfolio which includes a candidate Covid-19 vaccine. Valneva’s ordinary shares are listed on Euronext Paris, and its ADSs trade on Nasdaq.

Addex Therapeutics Ltd advanced its clinical portfolio in the three months to 30 September bringing its lead product dipraglurant a step closer to registration for patients suffering from dyskinesia associated with the use of levodopa to treat Parkinson’s disease. Dipraglurant is a small molecule allosteric modulator which is currently in a Phase 2b/3 pivotal study. Altogether, the company has three programmes in the clinic in addition to a research collaboration with Indivior Plc into treatments for addiction disorders.