Drug Discovery

Ionis grants Recordati rights to zilganersen for Alexander disease

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has entered a licence agreement granting global pharmaceutical company Recordati exclusive rights to develop and commercialise zilganersen to treat Alexander disease (AxD) in countries outside the US.

MSD’s Keytruda-Padcev combo secures EC approval for MIBC

The European Commission (EC) has approved Merck & Co’s (MSD) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) as a neoadjuvant treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).

RQ Bio secures $115m to develop influenza antibody programme

UK-based RQ Bio has closed a £85.5m ($115m) Series A funding round to advance its long-acting antibody therapeutic programme RQB01, which targets influenza prevention in high-risk and immunocompromised groups.

Boehringer and Combotope partner for cancer antibodies

Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a research collaboration agreement with Combotope Therapeutics to advance tumour-selective antibody therapies targeting cancer.

Haisco and Nuvectis sign licensing deal for two drugs

Haisco Pharmaceutical Group has signed an exclusive licensing agreement granting US-based biotechnology company Nuvectis rights for two drug candidates in oncology and complement indications.

Genprex’s Reqorsa combo secures Canadian patent for lung cancer

Genprex has received a notice of allowance from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for a patent related to the use of its Reqorsa Gene Therapy (quaratusugene ozeplasmid) in combination with either programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or PD-L1 antibodies to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Lilly and BioArctic sign deal to develop neurodegenerative therapy

Eli Lilly and Company has signed a research and collaboration agreement with Swedish biopharmaceutical company BioArctic to develop a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

Sun Pharma to acquire Innovcare Lifesciences for $28.7m

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has agreed to purchase India-based Innovcare Lifesciences in a deal valued at approximately Rs2.71bn ($28.7m).

Voro and Alloy partner on tumour-selective TCE therapeutics

Voro Therapeutics and Alloy Therapeutics have formed a strategic research partnership to develop tumour-selective, next-generation masked T-cell engager (TCE) therapeutics.