India’s first indigenous CAR T therapy is expected to cost around $50,000, nearly one-tenth of the price of top-selling CAR Ts in the U.S. India President Droupadi Murmu officially launched Immunoadoptive Cell Therapy’s (Immunoact) NexCAR19 (actalycabtagene autoleucel), a CD19-targeted CAR T, and dedicated it to the nation in April 2024.
As Poseida Therapeutics Inc. anticipates reporting further data this year from allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy P-MUC1C-ALLO1, for which Astellas Pharma Inc. has nabbed first negotiation rights, the two companies inked a second deal aimed at combining their respective cell therapy platforms in an early stage collaboration targeting solid tumors.
South Korea’s HK Inno.N Corp. said on May 2 that it gained exclusive development and commercial rights to Hangzhou, China-based Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly, injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, XW-003 (ecnoglutide), in South Korea to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Novartis Pharma AG continues to build up its radiopharmaceutical powerhouse and has expanded a peptide discovery collaboration with Peptidream Inc. in a deal worth up to $2.71 billion. Under the multi-program agreement, Kawasaki, Japan-based Peptidream will use its peptide discovery platform system technology to identify and optimize novel macrocyclic peptides against targets selected by Novartis for potential conjugation to radioligand therapies or other applications for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.
Ending a late 2021 deal that was potentially worth billions, Moderna Inc. and Metagenomi Inc. are going their separate ways. The two had been collaborating on gene-editing R&D to develop therapies for treating serious genetic diseases. Moderna said it agreed with Metagenomi to end the deal as “Moderna continues to strategically prioritize its research and development investments.”
By now, the story of last year’s dismal U.S. capital markets is hardly news. But when combined with increasing regulatory stresses, especially for biopharma and med-tech startups, there are elements of that story giving some Street-watchers pause, even as the market begins to show a few signs of recovery.
Novartis AG is bolstering its radioligand arsenal with the takeout of Mariana Oncology Inc. for $1 billion up front and as much as $750 million in potential milestone payments. Watertown, Mass.-based Mariana has developed peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals targeting solid tumors. The company’s lead program, MC-339, is a radioligand approach to small-cell lung cancer, due to enter the clinic later this year.
South Korea’s HK Inno.N Corp. said on May 2 that it gained exclusive development and commercial rights to Hangzhou, China-based Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s once-weekly, injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, XW-003 (ecnoglutide), in South Korea to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
As Poseida Therapeutics Inc. anticipates reporting further data this year from allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy P-MUC1C-ALLO1, for which Astellas Pharma Inc. has nabbed first negotiation rights, the two companies inked a second deal aimed at combining their respective cell therapy platforms in an early stage collaboration targeting solid tumors.