Drug Discovery

Imago BioSciences announces $40m Series B financing led by Omega Funds

Imago BioSciences, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative treatments for myeloid diseases, has announced a $40 million Series B financing led by Omega Funds, an international investment firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies.

Merck, NGM Bio extend multi-year strategic collaboration

Merck and NGM Biopharmaceuticals announced that Merck has exercised its option to extend the research phase of the companies’ broad, strategic collaboration for an additional two-year period from March 2020 to March 2022.

Pfizer secures option to buy Vivet Therapeutics in €560m deal

US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has secured an exclusive option to acquire gene therapy firm Vivet Therapeutics in a deal that could be valued at around €560m ($635.8m).

Study suggests epigenetic protein as new therapeutic target in AML

A new study in the UK has shown that EZH2, an epigenetic protein, can potentially be a new therapeutic target for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Evotec, GARDP partner to tackle antimicrobial resistance threat

German biotech company Evotec has entered into a partnership with The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) to discover antibiotics for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections.

Ono enters into research collaboration agreement with twoXAR

Ono Pharmaceutical and twoXAR have signed a drug discovery research collaboration to jointly discover and develop novel, efficacious treatments to address unmet medical needs in a specific neurological disease.

Imara closes $63m Series B cross-over financing

Imara, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on sickle cell disease (SCD) and other hemoglobinopathies, announced the closing of an oversubscribed $63 million Series B cross-over financing.

Merck KGaA to use Iktos AI technology across three drug discovery projects

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is collaborating with Iktos, a French start-up company specialized in artificial intelligence (AI) for new drug design, to further accelerate its drug discovery capabilities.

Seres, AstraZeneca to collaborate on microbiome immuno-oncology

US-based Seres Therapeutics and AstraZeneca have entered into a three-year research collaboration, which will focus on further understanding the potential of microbiome therapeutics in supplementing immuno-oncology treatment.