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- Biotech & Pharma Updates | January 12 - 13, 2025
Biotech & Pharma Updates | January 12 - 13, 2025
J&J drops $14.6B for Intra-Cellular Therapies, BMS exercises in-license option to ArsenalBio's solid tumor-targeting cell therapy, BlueRock Therapeutics jumps from Ph1 to Ph3 with their allogeneic cell therapy Parkinson's disease hopeful, Normunity $75M Series B to fuel solid tumor-targeting T cell engager ambitions, Nvidia signs a bunch AI-driven of healthcare partnership, Moderna's stock plunges 20% after cutting 2025 revenue forecast by $1B, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is not a MAHA fan + 42 more stories

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⬇️ The Good News ⬇️
THE GOOD
Business Development
AbbVie pays up to $1.05B for rights to Simcere Zaiming's Ph1 trispecific antibody targeting multiple myeloma
Trispecific antibody, multiple myeloma, cancer - Read more
Scribe Therapeutics hits milestone in Sanofi collaboration, advancing CRISPR-based therapies with potential $1.2B in milestone payments
CRISPR-based therapy, in vivo, gene editing - Read more
Roche in-licenses Dyno Therapeutics' AI-designed viral capsid for neurological gene therapy
Gene therapy, neurological disease, capsid design, drug delivery, AI - Read more
Synthego in-licenses global manufacturing and distributions rights to AstraZeneca's CRISPR gene-editing enzyme, eSpOT-ON
CRISPR, gene-editing - Read more
Telix Pharmaceuticals acquires ImaginAb's therapeutic pipeline, technology platform, and research facility for $45M, expanding drug development capabilities
Antibody, cancer, facility purchase, platform technology - Read more
George Medicines out-licenses GMRx2, a triple-combination hypertension treatment, to Bausch Health for commercialization in select markets in the Americas
Small molecule, hypertension - Read more
Bristol Myers Squibb exercises in-license option to ArsenalBio's AB-4000 cell therapy targeting solid tumors
Cell therapy, cancer, CAR-T - Read more
X4 Pharmaceuticals out-licenses Europe, Australia, and New Zealand commercial rights of mavorixafor (CXC chemokine receptor 4 antagonist) to Norgine
Small molecule, WHIM syndrome - Read more
Zhaoke Ophthalmology grants AFT Pharmaceuticals exclusive rights to distribute BRIMOCHOL PF, a presbyopia treatment, in Australia and New Zealand
Small molecule, presbyopia - Read more
Klinge Biopharma and Formycon sign semi-exclusive supply and commercialization agreements with Teva Pharmaceuticals to market and sell FYB203 (Eylea biosimilar, Regeneron) in Europe and Israel
Recombinant fusion protein, neovascular age-related macular degeneration, biosimilar - Read more
Vera Therapeutics in-licenses Stanford University's VT-109 (dual BAFF/APRIL inhibitor) targeting “the spectrum of B cell mediated diseases”
Fusion protein, autoimmune disease - Read more
THE GOOD
Clinical Trials
BlueRock Therapeutics’ (Bayer subsidiary) makes history with bemdaneprocel, jumping from Ph1 directly to a Ph3 trial for this allogeneic cell therapy Parkinson's disease hopeful
Cell therapy, Parkinson’s disease, allogeneic cell therapy, stem cell - Read more
Hengrui and Kailera's HRS9531 (GLP-1/GIP dual agonist) touts encouraging weight loss in Ph2 obesity trial
GLP-1, obesity - Read more
Regeneron's Libtayo (PD-1 inhibitor) deliver positive Ph3 results in high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
Monoclonal antibody, carcinoma, cancer - Read more
Phio Pharmaceuticals' PH-762 (PD-1 inhibitor) touts “promising” Ph1b data in various tested skin cancers
siRNA, carcinoma, melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, skin cancer - Read more
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⬇️ More Good News ⬇️
THE GOOD
Earnings & Finances
Guardant Health exceeds expectations with 31% revenue growth, reaching $737M in 2024, boosted by new FDA-approved colorectal cancer blood test
Blood test, colorectal cancer, diagnostics, liquid biopsy - Read more
Apellis Pharmaceuticals reports strong growth for Syfovre eye treatment, with over 510,000 injections given and 120% year-over-year sales increase
Pegylated peptide, geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration - Read more
Bristol Myer Squibb's Cobenfy (M1, M4 receptor agonist) shows strong US launch in schizophrenia market, with clear growth potential following AbbVie’s emraclidine (M4 receptor positive allosteric modulator) Ph2 failure in November
Small molecule, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s - Read more
THE GOOD
Fundraises
Labviva $25M Series B, AI-powered life sciences procurement platform
Life science procurement, SaaS, AI - Read more
Normunity $75M Series B, fueling solid tumor-targeting T cell engager ambitions
Antibody, solid tumor, cancer, T cell engager - Read more
Ashvattha Therapeutics $50M Series B extension, developing nanomedicine therapeutics for neuroinflammation and ophthalmology
Nanomedicine, neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macula edema - Read more
Immunovant $450M PIPE financing for furthering antibody-drive autoimmune disease pipeline
Monoclonal antibody, autoimmune disease - Read more
Aragen Life Sciences $100M minority investment from Quadria Capital, CRDMO expanding US/EU pharma outsourcing capabilities and infrastructure
CDMO, CRO, contract manufacturing, contract research - Read more
Truveta $320M total fundraise, health data company building large-scale genomic database with healthcare partners like Regeneron and Illumina
Genomic data, precision medicine, AI - Read more
Bioptimus $41M fundraise, French biotech startup developing generative AI models for biotechnology applications
Biology foundation model, AI - Read more [Paywall]
First Ascent Biomedical $6M investment, developing personalized, predictive cancer treatment planning tech
Personalized medicine, treatment outcome prediction, AI - Read more
Cambium Oncology lands $5 investment from Orient Euro Pharma to advance development of ANT308 (vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor antagonist)
Small molecule, leukemia, cancer - Read more
THE GOOD
Lawsuits
Novartis wins patent appeal for heart drug Entresto, blocking generic competition and (for now) protecting $6B annual revenue stream
Small molecule, heart failure, generic - Read more
THE GOOD
Marketing
Aileron Therapeutics changes name to Rein Therapeutics
Peptide, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis - Read more
THE GOOD
Mergers & Acquisitions
J&J acquires Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6B, adding schizophrenia and bipolar depression drug Caplyta (targeting 5-HT2A, D2 receptors) to its neuroscience portfolio
Small molecule, bipolar depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder - Read more
GSK acquires IDRx for $1B upfront plus $150M milestone payment, gaining IDRX-42 (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) for gastrointestinal stromal tumors
Small molecule, stromal tumors, cancer - Read more
Eli Lilly acquires Scorpion's breast cancer drug pipeline for $2.5B; specifically acquires PI3Kα inhibitor therapeutic pipeline, will spin-out non-PI3Kα pipeline assets to a NewCo
Small molecule, breast cancer - Read more
BioCina and NovaCina merge to create “end-to-end” CDMO offering
CDMO, contract manufacturing - Read more
Lantheus Holdings to acquire Life Molecular Imaging for $350M upfront, with potential additional $400M in milestone payments
PET imaging agents, Alzheimer’s, medical imaging - Read more
Bausch + Lomb acquires Whitecap Biosciences to develop new treatments for glaucoma and geographic atrophy eye conditions
Biologic, glaucoma, geographic atrophy - Read more
Salarius Pharmaceuticals merges with Decoy Therapeutics, developing peptide-based therapies for viral infections and cancer
Peptide conjugate, viral infection, cancer, small molecule - Read more
PAG acquires majority stake in Pravesha Industries, an Indian pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer serving global markets
Manufacturing, pharmaceutical packaging - Read more
THE GOOD
Partnerships
Nvidia signs partnership with IQVIA, Illumina, Mayo Clinic, and Arc Institute, accelerating healthcare innovation through AI and computing technologies
Genomics, drug discovery, AI - Read more
Merus, Biohaven partner to develop novel ADCs
Antibody-drug conjugate, cancer, drug development - Read more
ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Janssen partner to evaluate ORIC-114 (EGFR/HER2 inhibitor) and amivantamab (targeting EGFR, MET) combination therapy for first-line EGFR-mutated lung cancer treatment
Smal molecule, lung cancer, bispecific antibody - Read more
THE GOOD
Strategic Plans
Biomea Fusion jumps on the diabetes and obesity bandwagon, shifting pipeline focus to metabolic disorders
Small molecule, diabetes, obesity - Read more
Kyverna Therapeutics’ new CEO prioritizes stiff person syndrome as initial indication for lead CAR-T program, ahead of myasthenia gravis and lupus
Cell therapy, stiff person syndrome, myasthenia gravis, lupus, CAR-T - Read more
Vertex remains confident in pain drug suzetrigine (NaV1.8 inhibitor) despite investor-disappointing Ph2
Small molecule, peripheral neuropathic pain - Read more
Cytokinetics CEO playing hard to get? Rejects acquisition talks, plans independent launch of heart drug aficamten following $1B in raises in 2024
Small molecule, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - Read more [Paywall]
⬇️ The Bad News ⬇️
THE BAD
Clinical Trials
Regor Therapeutics' RGT-075 Ph2a obesity trial data trails the competition
Small molecule, obesity - Read more [Paywall]
Blueprint Medicines discontinues BLU-222 (CDK2 inhibitor) Ph1 trial in breast cancer despite earlier “promising” data in 2024
Small molecule, breast cancer - Read more
THE BAD
Earnings & Finances
Moderna's stock plunges 20% after cutting 2025 revenue forecast by $1B and announcing accelerated cost-cutting measures
mRNA, vaccine, infectious disease - Read more
THE BAD
Strategic Plans
Major healthcare companies, including Cigna and Centene, withdraw from J.P. Morgan healthcare conference following UnitedHealthcare CEO assassination last month
Safety concerns, health insurance - Read more [Paywall]
⬇️ The Ugly News ⬇️
THE UGLY
Politics & Policy
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warns against RFK Jr. as potential HHS secretary, citing concerns about vaccine skepticism and disease outbreak risks
Department of Health and Human Services, public health, public trust - Read more [Paywall]
You’re all caught up on the latest Pharma & Biotech News!

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