Drug Discovery

Vor Biopharma and MaxCyte announce clinical and commercial licence agreement for engineered hematopoietic stem cells to treat cancer

Vor Biopharma, an oncology company pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) for the treatment of cancer, and MaxCyte, a global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, today announced a clinical and commercial license agreement under which Vor will use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation technology to produce eHSCs and initiate Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies to accelerate its progress towards the clinic.

ViiV Healthcare, NIH collaborate on investigational bNAb for HIV treatment

ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizerand Shionogi Limited as shareholders, today announced that the company will be developing the investigational broadly neutralising antibody (bNAb) N6LS for the treatment and prevention of HIV-1, as part of an exclusive licensing agreement between GSK and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Bristol-Myers Squibb completes $74bn acquisition of biotechnology firm Celgene

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has completed the acquisition of US-based biotechnology company Celgene in a cash-cum-stock deal worth around $74bn.

CNS Pharmaceuticals acquired worldwide rights for brain cancer drug from Houston Pharmaceuticals

CNS Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel treatments for brain tumors, completed an agreement with Houston Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("HPI") to obtain the rights to a worldwide, exclusive royalty-bearing, license for the chemical compound commonly known as Berubicin.

Dicerna, Novo Nordisk sign RNAi deal for liver-related cardio-metabolic diseases

US-based Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk have signed a deal worth up to around $607m to discover and develop drugs for liver-related cardio-metabolic diseases.

Aerie Pharmaceuticals agrees to acquire Avizorex Pharma

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class therapies for the treatment of patients with open-angle glaucoma, retinal diseases and other diseases of the eye, announced the signing of an agreement (the “Agreement”) for the acquisition of Avizorex Pharma, S.L. (“AVX Pharma” or “AVX”), a Spanish ophthalmic pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of dry eye disease.

Alkermes to buy Rodin Therapeutics for up to $950m

Alkermes has signed an agreement to acquire biopharmaceutical company Rodin Therapeutics in a deal valued at around $950m.

Roche to buy clinical-stage biotechnology firm Promedior in $1.39bn deal

Roche has agreed to acquire US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company Promedior in a deal valued at around $1.39bn.

EpicentRx closes $35m series D financing to support development of small molecule immunotherapy and oncolytic viral platform

EpicentRx, a clinical cancer immunotherapy company targeting both sides of the immune system to deliver cancer treatments with minimal toxicity, announced today that it has raised a $35 million Series D financing using the Silicon Valley based life-science focused investment bank, Biotech Alliances International.