2024-03-13 14:15:00
Novartis takes over an IFM subsidiary
The Swiss laboratory exercised its option to acquire IFM Due, a subsidiary of IFM Therapeutics. An operation made possible by a previous agreement, dating back to September 2019, in which Novartis had supported the company’s R&D programs, in exchange for this option. IFM Due specializes in antagonists of the STING protein, involved in many inflammatory diseases. “ The acquisition of IFM Due represents the culmination of four highly productive years between Novartis and IFM, developing novel small molecule inhibitors of STING “, commented Richard Siegel, director of immunology research at Novartis.
IFM Therapeutics will receive $90 million from this operation, an amount which will possibly be increased by $745 million in additional payments, depending on the success of the developments. With this transaction, a third subsidiary of IFM Therapeutics is sold to a laboratory. In 2018, BMS bought IFM Uno, while in 2019, Novartis had already acquired another subsidiary, IFM Tre, before today taking over IFM Due.
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MSD to collaborate with Pearl Bio to develop “smart” biological products
The American giant Merck & Co. (MSD) announced a license, collaboration and option agreement with synthetic biology company Pearl Bio to discover and develop new biological, potentially anti-cancer therapies. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Pearl Bio was started by Farren Isaacs, Michael Jewett and Amy Cayne Schwartz, three Americans who chose to focus on using genomically recoded organisms (GROs) to encode synthetic chemicals.
Under the terms of the agreement, MSD agrees to pay up to $1 billion to the Massachusetts biotech (without specifying the breakdown between upfront and top-up payments), in addition to potential royalties on future product sales. approved products from this collaboration. Leveraging Pearl’s proprietary technology, MSD hopes to add more biologics to its pipeline. “ Merck is excited to collaborate with Pearl, a pioneer in the development of recoded organisms, to produce new biologics enabled by synthetic chemistry », rejoiced Juan Alvarez, vice-president of biological discoveries at Merck Research laboratory. For its part, the American biotech said “ delighted to demonstrate the power of its technology “. In 2023, MSD has continued collaborations focusing on oncology, including an agreement with the Japanese Daichii Sankyo last October.
Domain Therapeutics taps Chime Biologics to make its cancer antibody
The French laboratory Domain Therapeutics, specialized in the development of immuno-oncology treatments targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), has just announced a collaboration agreement with Chinese CDMO Chime Biologics for the production of a monoclonal antibody, DT-7012. Still in the preclinical stage, it acts by targeting regulatory T lymphocytes (called Tregs) to prevent them from slowing down the anti-tumor inflammatory response. Under the terms of the agreement, Chime Biologics will provide development of stable cell lines and manufacturing of candidate DT-7012 to support Domain Therapeutics’ clinical trials and facilitate the drug’s progression to more advanced clinical stages.
For the Strasbourg biotech, it is regarding expanding its oncology portfolio, as the laboratory’s scientific director, Stephan Schann, mentions: “ This new immunotherapy targeting GPCRs has immense potential to unlock the immune system’s cancer-fighting capabilities and help patients around the world », he rejoiced. DT-7012 is the only anti-CCR8 drug candidate in Domain Therapeutics’ pipeline, which has four others under development in different areas of immuno-oncology. Phase I clinical studies of DT-7012 are expected to begin in early 2025, for solid tumors, and mid-2025, for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).
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