The Friday Five newsletter will focus on the top five - deals, pipeline, funding, and news of the week. The complete list is available here: Industry Updates

🤝Deals and Collaborations

1️⃣ Galapagos makes ‘surprising’ cell therapy pivot via CellPoint and AboundBio buy. The disruptive delivery model of CellPoint combined with the research engine that AboundBio brings in terms of new modalities and multi-targeting CAR-Ts, as well as the current clinical pipeline of CellPoint provides a strong foundation to expand and diversify our pipeline.

2️⃣ Sino Biopharm’s invoX Acquires F-Star, a UK Bispecific company, for $161mn. F-star’s platform technology pioneers the use of tetravalent (2+2) bispecific antibodies. These antibodies target two different antigens and are paired with a unique set of pharmacology agents to activate an immune reaction in the tumor microenvironment.

3️⃣ Xuanzhu out-licenses China rights for two antibiotics in a $66mn deal. New Asia will have rights to manufacture and sell Benapenem and Plazomicin in Greater China.

4️⃣ Sirona Biochem contracts WuXi AppTec to manufacture a revolutionary anti-aging compound for clinical trials. TFC-1326 is a powerful active against the aging effects on skin and has the potential to reverse the effects of aging on the skin.

5️⃣ Fujirebio acquires ADx Neurosciences and confirms its intentions to bring better and earlier neurodegenerative disease diagnostic solutions to the global diagnostics industry. With help of this acquisition, Fujirebio will be able to expand its antibody supply business and CDMO offerings in the neurodegenerative field.

⏫ Pipeline and Approvals

1️⃣ OcuMension approved to launch novel uveitis therapy in China

2️⃣ Innovent Biologics' drug to treat esophageal cancer approved in China

3️⃣ Amryt Pharma secures European approval for EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) treatment

4️⃣ Maviret approved by Health Canada for pediatric patients with chronic Hepatitis C

5️⃣ BioMarin announces Japan approval for VOXZOGO (vosoritide) for injection for the treatment of children with achondroplasia, whose growth plates are not closed

💰 Funding

1️⃣ Cystic fibrosis in the crosshairs as Carbon Biosciences launches with $38mn funding. Carbon is harnessing novel parvovirus vectors that can deliver larger gene therapy payloads with enhanced tissue specificity and with minimal neutralizing immunity, it will use the funding to advance the development of its programs for genetic diseases.

2️⃣ Biotech Sonrai Analytics secures £2.2mn seed plus funding. Using artificial intelligence (AI) Sonrai Analytics’ software can look for biomarkers, create algorithms, and aid in getting new medical products quicker. this funding will enable them to focus on the growth of our customer base in the U.S.

3️⃣ Gates Foundation funds a biotech company cataloging the viruses that infect bacteria. Phase Genomics will catalog the diversity of viruses that infect bacteria in samples from the human gut and wastewater. The team will determine which viruses infect which bacteria worldwide, addressing one of the largest blind spots in biology.

4️⃣ Antheia Receives $40mn in venture debt financing. Antheia is utilizing synthetic biology to create both existing and new medicines in more controlled and economical ways this funding will support Antheia's expansion with a 14,700 square-foot pilot plant.

5️⃣ Startup liver disease researcher Akero raises $25mn. The company will use the new capital to continue work on its drug candidate, efruxifermin which is developed for NASH.

📰 Interesting News

1️⃣ The top psychedelic drug developers leading the market. Here are five of the top drug developers leading their particular niches in the emerging field of psychedelic medicines - Atai Lifesciences, Compass pathways, GH research, Mind med, and Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

2️⃣ Typhoid bacteria are more resistant to antibiotics now. According to the study, quinolone-resistant strains accounted for more than 85% of S Typhi (the bacteria that causes Typhoid fever) in Bangladesh by the early 2000s, increasing to more than 95% in India, Pakistan, and Nepal by 2010.

3️⃣ 16 healthcare innovators that you should know. They are behavioral scientists, product leaders, academic researchers, statisticians, physicians, clinicians, strategists, experts in diversity equity and inclusion, implementation scientists, and tech leaders.

4️⃣ Google Ventures & The Virgin Group are investing in Sesame, a “Superstore” for healthcare. The online platform has essentially created a marketplace where patients can find the specialist that they need and pay a direct fee to receive their consultation or care.

5️⃣ SARS-CoV-2 spike: A potential biomarker for Long Covid. At present, there is no clinical test to distinguish Long Covid from several other diseases however a study found SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen as the best biomarker candidate.