Deals & M&A

Early-stage companies pioneering new modalities discussed the future of cardiometabolic therapy and partnering with big pharma at the LSX conference in London.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: Japan’s Ono buys US oncology firm; strong growth but supply issues for Lilly; Novo and Lilly make their money work; BMS cuts jobs, costs; and Big Pharma’s support for bioventures.

Already in Phase III for PAH, Gossamer said it can take seralutinib into Phase III for PH-ILD at least four years earlier than planned under its alliance with respiratory disease expert Chiesi.

The two heavyweights have joined forces with fellow major charitable foundation Wellcome and committed $300m to "accelerate global health equity and impact."

BridgeBio will narrow its focus to rare diseases and the November action date for acoramidis, while subsidiary TheRas will become BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, focused on KRAS-targeted drugs.

BioNTech and the UK government's alliance to bring personalized cancer immunotherapy to patients is making progress, but the National Health Service has to show it can deliver on clinical trials recruitment.

The acquisition of Mariana will complement Novartis’s lutetium-based radioligand therapies with candidates using actinium. Lilly, Bristol and AstraZeneca all have made recent high-priced buys in the space.

Moderna has cut short its alliance with Metagenomi, giving it more work to do in persuading skeptical investors about its gene-editing platform.

BMS partners with Repertoire and Scenic, plus deals involving: G1/Pepper, Harmony/Epygenix, Biodexa/Emtora, Regeneron/Mammoth, Vertex/Treefrog and Immedica/KKR/Impilo.

Astellas is building off an existing relationship with the biotech formed last August, joining the growing number of large pharmas looking at tackling solid tumors with cell therapy.

C-suite leaders from Lilly, Roche and J&J spoke at a Citeline-sponsored panel at Swiss Biotech Day in Basel and offered encouragement to start-ups trying to negotiate the tricky financial landscape.

Quietly but unambiguously, pharma firms are accelerating their diversification away from China and are now looking to other emerging markets for growth, a strategy that reflects increasing pressures from China's volume-based procurement scheme but also US-China tensions and other geopolitical risks.