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 Marinomed Biotech AG signs a new agreement for Carragelose in South Korea. Hanmi obtains an exclusive license for Carragelose-based nasal spray for the South Korean market.

2️⃣ SGS Quay Pharma partners with Liveome to develop & commercialize LIV001. Contract for the formulation development and clinical manufacture of a targeted release formulation of LIV001 for treating inflammatory bowel disease containing lyophilized microbial cells suitable for phase one clinical trials.

3️⃣ GSK to buy Sierra Oncology amid pressure to boost drug pipeline. Sierra plans to apply for U.S. marketing approval for its experimental drug momelotinib, which is being developed to treat anemic patients with a type of bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis.

4️⃣ Ji Xing in-licenses China rights to eye drop therapies for far-sightedness. Lenz Therapeutics’s two therapies are based on aceclidine, a small molecule acetylcholine receptor agonist that causes pupil contraction (miosis), creating a pinhole effect that improves near vision.

5️⃣ Ampersand Health and UCB partner in new arthritis initiative. Ampersand Health and UCB have announced a partnership to help patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) – a form of inflammatory arthritis that mainly affects the spine's joints.

⏫ Pipeline and Approvals

1️⃣ JAMP Pharma launches Simlandi, a new high-concentration, low volume, citrate-free formulation, biosimilar to Humira, in Canada

2️⃣ Phase 3 clinical trial results lead to approval of Agios Pharmaceutical's oral drug for red blood cell disorder

3️⃣ Roche wakes up to new competition as FDA approves Amneal’s Avastin biosimilar

4️⃣ Japan-based RaQualia Pharma has received approval of its new drug application (NDA) in China for its acid-related gastrointestinal disease treatment tegoprazan, a potassium competitive acid blocker (P-CAB)

5️⃣ EC approves Astellas and Seagen’s bladder cancer treatment

💰 Funding

1️⃣ Cell therapy biotech raises $120mn to advance therapy to treat common cornea condition. Aurion Biotech is developing a cell therapy to address the limitations of current treatment procedures for the degeneration of the cornea.

2️⃣ Gastrointestinal biotech company Renexxion Ireland announces $100mn investment commitment. The proceeds from this capital investment will further the company's lead program, naronapride, and advance additional new programs.

3️⃣ CDR-Life announces $76mn in Series A funding. CDR-Life is currently advancing its lead program, CDR404, a first of its kind dual MAGE-A4 T cell engager which targets solid tumors across multiple indications, based on the Company’s unique M-gager technology.

4️⃣ Be Bio uses Arch Venture-led $130mn financing round to harness 'power of the B cell'. Using its autologous and allogeneic engineered B-cell medicine platform, Be Biopharma will channel the funds into advancing pipeline candidates initially targeting oncology and rare diseases.

5️⃣ Alzheon announces closing of oversubscribed $50mn Series D financing round to accelerate completion of APOLLOE4 Phase 3 trial and expansion of product portfolio. Proceeds will accelerate both completion of APOLLOE4 phase 3 study evaluating oral tablet ALZ-801 (Valiltramiprosate) and regulatory filings for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.

📰 Interesting News

1️⃣ New study reveals that healthy plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes. New research finds that the consumption of healthy plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, and legumes, is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) in generally healthy people and supports their role in diabetes prevention.

2️⃣ Liver enzyme might hold the secret to new obesity treatments. Researchers found that they could decrease appetite and increase fat shedding in obese mice after inhibiting a liver enzyme, with weight loss as the overall result.

3️⃣ In the eye of the storm: How Covid-19 impacts the eye. Approximately 1 in 10 people exposed to Covid-19 experience at least one eye problem: dryness, redness, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light.

4️⃣ Researchers identify a potential new treatment for metabolic syndrome. In a recent mouse-model study, researchers have furthered their progress to develop a drug to treat metabolic syndrome by identifying a receptor that controls appetite and body weight.

5️⃣ This biotech startup wants to delay menopause by 15 years. Celmatix plans on starting clinical trials of its menopause-delaying drug in 2023.