Research & Development

Ligand Pharmaceuticals to buy Pfenex for up to $516m

Ligand Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire development and licencing biotechnology company Pfenex in a deal valued at around $516m.

Seismic Bio partners with Twist Bioscience for discovery and optimisation of antibodies

Twist Bioscience Corporation, a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, and Seismic Bio, an immuno-oncology company focused on bispecific antibody development, today announced a partnership for the discovery and optimization of antibodies to high-value immuno-oncology targets.

Pfizer says Covid-19 vaccine may be needed regularly

Pfizer is considering a long-term commercial strategy for its Covid-19 vaccine, anticipating that the novel coronavirus could endure and a one-time vaccine dose may not be enough.

Nura Bio launches to discover and develop neuroprotective drug

Nura Bio, a biopharma company created to discover and develop life-changing neuroprotective drugs, announced its official launch.

Karuna Therapeutics and PsychoGenics announce drug discovery collaboration

Karuna Therapeutics announced that the companies have entered a multi-year drug discovery and development agreement to identify potential novel drug candidates for the treatment of severe neuropsychiatric disorders.

Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca sign $6bn worth deal for DS-1062

Daiichi Sankyo has signed a global development and commercialisation deal worth up to $6bn with AstraZeneca for its cancer drug candidate DS-1062.

Moderna announces expansion of BARDA agreement to support larger phase 3 programme for Covid-19 vaccine

Moderna, a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for an additional commitment of up to $472 million to support late stage clinical development including the expanded Phase 3 study of the Company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against Covid-19.

Novartis announces phase III study of Jakavi in chronic graft-versus-host disease met primary and key secondary endpoints

Novartis announced that the Phase III REACH3 study evaluating Jakavi® (ruxolitinib) in patients with steroid-refractory or steroid-dependent chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) met its primary endpoint of superior overall response rate (ORR) at Week 24 versus best available therapy (BAT).

Roche, Jnana sign multi-target collaboration deal for small molecule drugs

Jnana Therapeutics has signed a multi-target collaboration and license deal worth over $1bn with Roche for the discovery of small molecule drugs for the treatment of immune-mediated and neurological diseases.