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 Chong Kun Dang, ENCell to co-develop cell and gene therapy. Under the accord, Chong Kun Dang will conduct cell and gene therapy research and development by using ENCell's cell and gene therapy development know-how and production technology.

2️⃣ Mirum Pharmaceuticals acquires Satiogen Pharmaceuticals. Through the transaction, Mirum obtained all Satiogen licensing payments and Satiogen-owned intellectual property relating to LIVMARLI and volixibat.

3️⃣ Nirvana Life Sciences announces that partner Symeres can produce high volume-controlled substances. Symeres will produce up to 1000g batches of pharmaceutical Psilocybin and Psilocin.

4️⃣ Ellipses Pharma and SunRock Biopharma enter into a licensing agreement for a first-in-class bi-functional HER3:TRAIL fusion protein. Under the agreement, Ellipses has been granted global rights to develop and commercialize EP0017 and will assume the full cost and responsibility for the remaining pre-clinical and clinical development of the compound.

5️⃣ Sandoz Japan on the hunt for biosimilar in-licensing, sales tie-ups after Avastin deal. Sandoz obtained the distribution rights to Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical’s bevacizumab biosimilar.

⏫ Pipeline and Approvals

1️⃣ Sanofi's Dupixent scores big as the first FDA-approved treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis

2️⃣ Novartis’ Cosentyx gets CHMP positive opinion for use in childhood arthritic conditions

3️⃣ CHMP recommends Sanofi’s Xenpozyme for rare disease ASMD

4️⃣ PTC Therapeutic’s Upstaza has been recommended by both the EMA and CHMP

5️⃣ Hanmi launches Amosartan - a high-blood-pressure blockbuster drug in China

💰 Funding

1️⃣ Alithea Genomics raises CHF 1mn in a seed financing round led by Novalis Biotech. Alithea has developed a proprietary technology called Bulk RNA Barcoding and sequencing (BRB-seq), which enables the preparation of hundreds of RNA samples for sequencing in a single tube.

2️⃣ Castle Creek Biosciences raises $112.8mn to progress gene therapies. Funds will help the company to complete a Phase 3 study and issue topline results of its lead ex vivo product candidate for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a progressive, debilitating rare genetic skin disorder.

3️⃣ Terremoto Biosciences gets $75mn to develop covalent medicines. Terremoto will use the Series A funding to help develop its drug discovery platform.

4️⃣ Inceptor Bio generates $37mn in funding round as it advances CAR-T platform into the clinic. Inceptor Bio is a biotechnology company advancing cell therapies for difficult-to-treat cancers.

5️⃣ Flagship unveils ProFound Therapeutics with $75M to explore a trove of new proteins. The Company’s ProFoundry Platform has to date identified tens of thousands of previously undiscovered proteins that represent a vastly expanded number of therapeutic targets.

📰 Interesting News

1️⃣ FDA calls for noninferiority trials for antibacterials, thanks to new drugs for resistant infections. Sponsors will have to conduct noninferiority trials that include subjects with infections caused by certain drug-resistant organisms because an effective active control can be provided.

2️⃣ Xenotransplantation is coming: New NEJM paper gives detailed look into 2 pig-to-human kidney transplant cases. Thymokidney is a system of pig thymus embedded underneath the outer layer of a pig’s kidney, made for human transplantation.

3️⃣ 25 most attractive Medtech M&A targets in 2022. The article shares a list of public MedTech companies that were identified as attractive for potential M&A based on products, growth, and margins.

4️⃣ Seven healthy habits linked to lower risk of dementia in those with genetic risk. Life's Simple 7, are being active, eating better, losing weight, not smoking, maintaining healthy blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, and reducing blood sugar.

5️⃣ Development of Pharmaceutical Industry in India. During the Covid-19 pandemic, several initiatives were taken by the Central Government to provide the necessary support required in the pharma industry, which includes the amendment of the existing Foreign Direct Investment policy.