Drug Discovery

XBiotech to sell anti- IL-1⍺ antibody bermekimab to Janssen in $1.3bn deal

XBiotech has agreed to offload its human antibody bermekimab to Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson, in a deal worth up to $1.35bn.

Limelight Bio emerges with $75m to develop next generation gene therapies to overcome limitations of current treatments

Limelight Bio, a privately held, multi-platform, multi-disease biopharmaceutical company developing novel gene therapies, raised $75 million in new financing funded by Apple Tree Partners (ATP), a leading life sciences innovation fund.

Gatehouse Bio collaborates with AstraZeneca to accelerate new drug discovery

Gatehouse Bio, a pioneer in next-generation therapeutics, is collaborating with AstraZeneca, a global science-led biopharmaceutical company, to explore the identification of new targets for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases using Gatehouse Bio’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered platform.

IONTAS and Adaptate Biotherapeutics collaborate to identify optimised antibodies for novel cancer targets

IONTAS, a leader in the discovery and optimisation of fully human antibodies, today announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Adaptate Biotherapeutics, developers of antibody-based therapeutics for modulation of gamma delta T-cells.

Astellas Pharma to buy Audentes Therapeutics for $3bn

Japan-based Astellas Pharma has agreed to acquire AAV-based genetic medicines company Audentes Therapeutics for a total equity value of around $3bn.

LUNAC Therapeutics-led project awarded £3.14m under Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Programme, to develop next-generation anticoagulant

LUNAC Therapeutics (LUNAC), a UK based drug discovery company focused on the identification and development of advanced anticoagulants with minimal bleeding risk, announced that, along with the Medicines Discovery Catapult and the University of Leeds, it has been awarded £3.14M funding under Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst programme.

WuXi ATU and GeneMedicine sign development and manufacturing agreement for oncolytic virus products

WuXi ATU Co, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, and GeneMedicine - a South Korea-based gene therapy biotechnology company, have formed a strategic partnership for the development and manufacturing of oncolytic virus products. Under the terms of the collaboration, WuXi ATU will provide overall process development, manufacturing and Investigational New Drug (IND) filing services for GeneMedicine's oncolytic virus products.

Lonza and DiNAQOR announce strategic collaboration to advance gene therapy programs for patients with monogenic cardiomyopathies

Lonza and DiNAQOR AG, a global gene therapy platform company, announced a strategic collaboration to advance DiNAQOR's preclinical programs for the treatment of cardiac myosin-binding protein-C (MYBPC3) cardiomyopathies, a genetic condition that can result in heart failure.

Ferring, Blackstone to invest $570m in gene therapy for bladder cancer

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Blackstone Life Sciences will make a joint investment of more than $570m in an investigational gene therapy called nadofaragene firadenovec (rAd-IFN/Syn3) for bladder cancer patients.