Pipeline
While agents like AbbVie’s Humira have transformed the treatment landscape, not all patients benefit equally from the drug. Better biomarker analysis and more investment in mechanistic trials can inform the development of more effective therapies with broader clinical value.
While biopharma’s overarching mission is to develop innovative medicines to improve patient outcomes, for these six people, the motivation came from much closer to home.
The RNA-based medicine is one of a handful of antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates that Novartis acquired last October when it took over neuromuscular-focused Avidity Biosciences.
It’s the latest Big Pharma deal for molecular glue technology and Novartis’ second with Orionis Biosciences, after first linking up in March 2020. The backloaded agreement will see Novartis pay $40 million upfront.
Nuvalent Bio is GSK’s third big-ticket purchase this year, after the pharma dropped $2.2 billion in January for RAPT Therapeutics and $950 million in February for 35Pharma.
Travere Therapeutics will gain an exclusive license to the oral BTK inhibitor civorebrutinib, which analysts at Guggenheim Securities said could be “complementary” to the biotech’s IgA nephropathy drug Filspari.
For an investment of up to $1.9 billion, Eli Lilly will be able to use Ascidian Therapeutics’ platform that removes mutated exons from mRNA molecules, avoiding the expression of disease-causing proteins.
Pfizer continues its dealmaking spree by striking a back-heavy partnership with China’s Innovent Biologics to assemble a pipeline of antibody-based therapies for cancer.
A trifecta of newly inked tech partnerships—from Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb and Incyte—exemplify the increasingly central role that AI is playing in drug development.
After being hit by safety issues and subpar results in another trial, BioMarin’s Phase 3 test of Voxzogo for a rare skeletal disorder called hypochondroplasia showed efficacy “solidly above” what the drug has shown for achondroplasia, which causes dwarfism.
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