Drug Discovery

Grifols to acquire Tiancheng Pharmaceutical for $1.3bn

Spanish healthcare firm Grifols has agreed to acquire 100% stake in Tiancheng (Germany) Pharmaceutical from Tiancheng International Investment for $1.289bn (€1.1bn).

Sanofi completes purchase of mRNA therapies firm Translate Bio

Sanofi has completed the acquisition of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapies firm Translate Bio to expedite the use mRNA technology for the development of treatments and vaccines.

EnGeneIC begins Phase I trial of nanocellular vaccine for Covid-19

EnGeneIC has started dosing in Phase I clinical trial of the world’s first nanocellular technology-based anti-Covid-19 vaccine in healthy adults.

Adaptimmune and Genentech partner on allogeneic cell therapies

Adaptimmune Therapeutics has signed a strategic partnership and licence agreement with Roche Group member, Genentech, for the development and commercialisation of allogeneic cell therapies across several cancer indications.

Roche to withdraw US accelerated approval for Tecentriq to treat breast cancer

Roche has decided to voluntarily withdraw the US accelerated approval for Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in combination with Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) to treat patients with PD-L1-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC).

Lilly and Lycia sign agreement for LYTAC degraders development

Eli Lilly and Company and Lycia Therapeutics have signed a multi-year collaboration and licensing agreement for the discovery and development of novel lysosomal targeting chimera (LYTAC) degraders.

Roche signs strategic collaboration and licence agreement with Roche

Shape Therapeutics has entered into a multi-target strategic collaboration and licence agreement with Roche to develop gene therapy for particular targets in the areas of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and rare diseases.

NICE recommends Novartis’ midostaurin to treat advanced systemic mastocytosis

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Novartis’ Rydapt (midostaurin) as the first treatment for rare blood disorder.

CM Life Sciences II, SomaLogic and Twist Bioscience partner for novel antibodies

CM Life Sciences II and SomaLogic have collaborated with Twist Bioscience to discover novel therapeutic targets and antibodies.