Drug Discovery

New collaborative project to develop Zika virus vaccine for pregnant women

A new collaborative project has been launched to develop a Zika virus vaccine that is suitable for use in pregnancy.

Kite, Sangamo form $3bn cancer cell therapy collaboration

Gilead Sciences’ subsidiary Kite has agreed to use Sangamo Therapeutics’ zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology platform to develop cancer treatments in a collaboration deal worth over $3bn.

Emulate, Roche partner to apply organ-chips to drug efficacy and safety

Scientists from Emulate and Roche have partnered to use Organ-Chips for testing of efficacy and safety of new antibody therapeutics and combination therapies.

ATUM, Just Biotherapeutics collaborate to speed up drug discovery

ATUM has signed a patent licensing agreement, which gives Just Biotherapeutics access to its Leap-In cell line development tools.

Merck to buy Viralytics to boost immuno-oncology pipeline

Merck has agreed to acquire Australian biotechnology firm Viralytics, which is focused on developing oncolytic immunotherapy treatments for cancers, for about A$502m ($394m).

Roche to buy oncology software provider Flatiron Health for $1.9bn

Swiss drugmaker Roche has agreed to acquire Flatiron Health, a US-based healthcare technology and services company, for $1.9bn.

Astellas Pharma acquires Universal Cells for $102m

Astellas Pharma has acquired Universal Cells for $102.5m in a move to utilize the latter’s technology to produce pluripotent stem cells that have the potential to lower immunological rejection in various therapeutic areas.

Bill Gates foundation awards grants to mRNA vaccine developer CureVac

CureVac, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing mRNA-based drugs, has been awarded two new grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Roivant, Poxel to develop and commercialise imeglimin in US, Europe and additional countries

Roivant Sciences and Poxel have signed a strategic development and license agreement for imeglimin, an investigational oral therapy which has been developed by Poxel for the potential treatment of type 2 diabetes, in the US, Europe and all other countries not covered by Poxel’s existing agreement in East and Southeast Asia.