The best news in biotech w/c June 3rd
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Bio-weekly! A weekly summary of the latest positive news in biotech, from fundraises to clinical readouts, exciting science and everything in-between. Stop by each week for a snapshot of the previous 7 days' worth of good news in the biotech world.
🤝 Deals deals deals…
Eli Lilly and Company paid QurAlis $45M for global rights to a neurodegeneration preclinical antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drug targeting ALS and #dementia Link
Merck Group signed a multi-target deal with Biolojic Design, Ltd. worth up to $376M to leverage an AI platform to develop #ADCs for oncological and immunological indications Link
After an 11 month collaboration, GSK is buying Elsie Biotechnologies and its #oligonucleotide platform for $50M Link
Ipsen agreed to pay Marengo Therapeutics up to $1.2B for access to its T-cell engager platform for targeting immunologically cold tumors that are typically resistant to immunotherapies Link
These deals come amid a report from Ernst & Young stating that Pharma companies have a record $1 trillion to deploy on new biotech innovation deals... But are waiting for interest rates to come down before Link
💸 Public and private investments...
Clinical stage epilepsy biotech Rapport Therapeutics talked up a $122M IPO earlier in the week, before announcing an upsized $154B offering a few days later. The IPO window seems to remain very much ajar! Link
Riding the radiopharmaceutical wave, Australian biotech Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited announced it is targeting a $200M IPO in the US Link
Not to miss out on the radiopharma fun, Germany's ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE raised $273M to fund its development of the targeted radiation therapies for cancer, one of the largest private investment rounds in Europe to date. Link
Hot off the back of positive phase 2 data for a GLP-1 obesity trial (see below), Structure Therapeutics followed the news with an upsized $476M public offering! Link
It was a quiet week in terms of private US biotech raises, as fundraising conditions remain challenging.
👩⚕️ Positive clinical readouts...
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals secured positive phase 3 data in a trial for its RNAi drug plozasiran which reduced triglycerides in patients with a rare metabolic disease that prevents the body from breaking down fats Link
Structure Therapeutics oral GLP-1 showed a 6% reduction in body weight at 12 weeks in a phase 2a study with low discontinuations and a favorable safety profile. The race to #obesity market domination continues to heat up, watch out Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk .. Link
BridgeBio's dwarfism drug showed to increase height in children, demonstrating its daily oral FGFR3 inhibitor infigratinib may have an edge over BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. 's approved dwarfism therapy Voxzogo. Link
Alkermes posted positive phase 1b data showing its narcolepsy drug offers similar benefits to Takeda's despite being administered less frequently Link
Annexon Biosciences 's mAb therapy ANX005 reduced disability in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder, meeting the main goal of a phase 3 trial. Link
Viking Therapeutics, Inc. reported positive phase 2 data for its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug VK2809, although it will be difficult to differentiate in the competitive space Link
Gilead Sciences tout positive 2 year data from for a liver disease drug it spent on $4.3B in its acquisition of CymaBay Therapeutics earlier this year Link
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. hepatitis D combination therapy has shown early efficacy in results from a phase 2 trial, posing a threat to Gilead Sciences' attempt to capture the market. Link
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