Pfizer Buys into Gene Therapy
Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) interest in the field of gene therapy just got real. The pharma giant just spent $193 million to pick up Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company that focuses on therapies for rare and devastating central nervous system (CNS) and neuromuscular diseases. In the first quarter of 2016, Pfizer acquired 22% of Bamboo’s fully diluted equity for $43 million. On August 2, the company announced that it had acquired the remaining equity for an upfront payment of $150 million. Bamboo Therapeutics is also eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $495 million. Since 2014, Pfizer has established gene therapy-based collaborations, research and... Read More »Kite Pharma Soars with Two T-Cell Acquisitions
Kite Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: KITE) has been busy lately, announcing two separate license deals in the last week of July. On July 25, it acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to technology that advances the development of off-the-shelf allogeneic T-cell therapies from renewable pluripotent stem cells, also known as the ATO system, in a deal with the University of California, Los Angeles. In connection with this agreement, Kite entered into a sponsored research agreement with UCLA to support ongoing preclinical research for the ATO system. Two days later, Kite entered into a license agreement with the National Institute of Health for the license to its fully human anti-CD19 chimeric antigen... Read More »June 2016 M&A Results Show Strength
Uncertainty is the hobgoblin of the merger and acquisition markets, and the month of June was a high point (or low point, depending on your perspective) for anxiety in global financial markets. Still, the healthcare deals kept rolling in. Our preliminary total for June 2016 stands at 115 transactions, exactly equal with the same month a year ago. Compared with May’s total of 141 deals, though, June’s total does look as if someone is applying the brakes. It takes 12 months to make a year, though, and one month’s results do not create a trend. The digital health sector turned in the strongest gain compared with June 2015, when only two deals were announced. This June, 22 deals were announced... Read More »Bristol-Myers adds to immuno-oncology portfolio
On July 5, 2016, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NASDAQ: BMY) acquired the privately-held, Sweden-based Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB for $95 million. The driver behind this acquisition was gaining full rights to Cormorant’s HuMax-IL8 antibody program, which may result in an additional $425 million in development and regulatory milestone payments. Cormorant had acquired HuMax-IL8 from GenMab A/S in 2012 and has since taken it into development. It is a phase 1/2 monoclonal antibody that offers the potential to boost immune response and increase the effectiveness of existing cancer medicines through combination therapy. The addition of HuMax-IL8 enhances BMY’s existing pipeline of clinical candidates... Read More »Takeda’s triple transactions
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. (OTCQB: TKPYY) has been busy bolstering its role as a global leader in gastroenterology. On June 8, 2016, Takeda dished out $15 million for Theravance Biopharma’s (NASDAQ: TBPH) license to TD-8954, a selective 5-HT4 receptor agonist being investigated for potential use in gastrointestinal motility disorders, including enteral feeding intolerance. Less than a month later, Takeda bought the rights to develop ATC-1906 from Altos Therapeutics for an undisclosed amount. ATC-1906 is currently in Phase 1 studies for the treatment of gastroparesis and its symptoms. Then, just four days later, on July 5 2016, Takeda paid approximately $28 million to TiGenix N.V.... Read More »Schedule a demo
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