The Week in Biopharma, March 14-21

CDMO 

CRO 

  • Charles River to License Hera BioLab’s SRG Rat (OncoRat) (USA) 
  • Thermo Fisher says buoyant demand prompted clinical lab expansion (USA) 
  • Thermo Fischer Introduces Updated GC and GC-MS Product Portfolio (USA) 

Biopharma 

  • A Non-Invasive Digital Therapeutic, JOGO-Gx, Shows Early Success in Treating Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms (USA) 
  • After megaround, Apexigen inks modest SPAC deal to advance melanoma prospect toward approval  (USA)
  • Illumina sues Guardant Health, claiming founders stole cancer testing trade secrets (USA) 
  • Summit says path forward for failed C. difficile drug is likely through partnerships (USA) 
  • BioMarin Hemophilia A Data Indicate Potential for “Sustained Bleed Control” (USA) 
  • Lamassu Bio Unveils New Venture to Accelerate Cancer Therapeutics (USA) 
  • BioLife Solutions Receives Nasdaq Notice of Noncompliance for Delayed 10-K Filing (USA)
  • Cynosure Enters into Partnership Agreement with Jeisys Medical Japan (USA/Japan) 
  • Lynk Pharmaceuticals and Simcere announced Strategic Commercialization Partnership upon novel JAK1 inhibitor LNK01001 (China) 
  • Kiora Pharmaceuticals Granted Orphan Drug Designation for KIO-301, an Investigational Drug for the Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) (USA) 
  • Recursion Announces Enrollment of First Patient in Phase 2 Trial for the Treatment of Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (USA) 
  • HTG Molecular Diagnostics Announces $7.5 Million Private Placement (USA)
  • ScreenPro Completes Acquisition of Add Biomedical Inc. Canada 
  • IQVIA Launches OCE+ (USA) 
  • NIH squashes Synairgen’s COVID therapy from ACTIV-2 trial after omicron shakes up study (UK) 
  • Athenex cuts jobs, narrows focus to cell therapies in continued fallout from 2021 FDA rejection (USA) 
  • Sensorion spins hearing loss flop into exploratory win in attempt to revive lead program( France)
  • Silence stops enrollment in blood cancer arm of RNAi trial over ‘recruitment challenges’ (UK) 
  • Eiger eager to send COVID-19 drug to FDA after hospitalizations, deaths slashed—including against omicron (USA) 
  • Armas Pharmaceuticals and Steriscience Enter Strategic Partnership to Commercialize Products for the U.S. Market (USA) 
  • Allerpops Receives Approval for Clinical Trial (USA) 
  • Triumvira Immunologics Completes Extension of Series A Financing, for Total Round of Approximately $100 Million (USA)
  • Triastek and Siemens announce strategic collaboration to accelerate digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry China 
  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Files Patent Infringement Suits against Pfizer and Moderna (USA) 
  • Lexicon Enters Into Loan Facility With Oxford Finance for Up to $150 Million to Support Planned Commercialization of Sotagliflozin (USA) 
  • Promore Pharma has Reached Recruitment Goal in Clinical Trial of Ensereptide (Sweden) 
  • KKR-backed Biosynth Carbosynth Acquires vivitide and Welcomes Ampersand Capital Partners as New Shareholder (UK)
  • Invitae Launches Full Access to its Liquid-Based Personalized Cancer Monitoring Platform to Help Detect Disease Earlier(USA) 
  • Impel Neuropharma Announces $100 Million Royalty and Debt Financing Agreement With Oaktree (USA) 
  • TFF Pharmaceuticals Enters into CRADA with the U.S. Army and The Geneva Foundation to Develop Dry Powder Needle-free Medical Countermeasures (USA) 
  • AbbVie’s Rinvoq Breaks into Gastroenterology Space with UC Approval (USA) 
  • AstraZeneca May Abandon US Regulatory Efforts for COVID-19 Vaccine (USA)
  • New Data Cement AstraZeneca and Merck’s Lynparza’s  worth in Early Breast Cancer (USA) 
  • WHO Delays Authorization of Russia’s Sputnik V Indefinitely (Russia) 
  • Nutcracker Therapeutics raises $167m to advance mRNA biochip-based manufacturing platform (USA) 
  • AstraZeneca pays $775M to settle patent dispute over Alexion drug (USA) 
  • FDA Approves Viatris’ Generic Version of Symbicort (USA)
  • Shionogi’s COVID-19 antiviral heads to phase 3 backed by NIH after receiving FDA go-ahead (USA) 
  • Sanofi steps off the sidelines to ink 3 ADC deal with Seagen, reigniting long-held interest in the modality (France/USA) 
  • With $987M round, Frazier looks to form several new biotechs this year, bankroll others (USA) 
  • Biogen jettisons AMD drug, providing Catalyst for ex-partner’s hunt for strategic alternatives (USA) 
  • Belgian biotech Precirix snags $88M to bankroll radiopharmaceuticals in HER2-positive cancers (Belgium)
  • Lilly, BI-Partnered Kidney Trial Stopped Early Due to Positive Results (USA) 
  • BetterLife Obtains In Vivo PK Data for BETR-001 Confirming its Bioavailability in Brain (Canada) 
  • BioMed X Initiates New Research Project in Collaboration with Merck (USA/Germany) 
  • Ovid finds new focus in epilepsy but trims staff to extend cash runway (USA) 
  • Astellas’ menopause drug suffers rare setback as failed Asian trial blots previously pristine record (Asia)
  • Tevogen Bio receives new investment for precision T cell Platform (USA) 
  • Biogen and its partner rework terms of Aduhelm deal amid slow sales (USA) 
  • Moderna hits the gas as it begins dosing of 2nd HIV vaccine (USA) 
  • Ascendis scores in phase 3 trial as it looks to expand endocrine-focused portfolio (Denmark) 
  • BMS-Nektar’s Opdivo combo fails phase 3 in upset to once-largest licensing deal in biotech history (USA)
  • Adiso ‘sprints out of the gate’ with inflammatory disease focused pipeline that includes LBPs (USA) 
  • Sandoz acquires respiratory device company Coalesce (UK) 
  • BridgeBio looks for comeback with trial results for muscular dystrophy drug  (USA) 

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