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 Charles River and ASC partner to manufacture gene therapy. Charles River Laboratories and ASC Therapeutics have partnered to manufacture ASC618, a second-generation gene therapy that aims to treat hemophilia A.

2️⃣ AbbVie inks licensing agreement to use Sirona Biochem's new skincare technology. AbbVie is licensing Sirona's library of skincare compounds, including TFC-1067, clinically proven to be better than the current 'gold standard' for skin lightening.

3️⃣ Boehringer Ingelheim signs option to acquire Trutino Biosciences. Trutino Biosciences is a pre-clinical stage biotech company dedicated to the discovery and development of next-generation cytokine therapies to treat immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases.

4️⃣ Vipergen and Leo Pharma partner for DNA encoded library (DEL)-based drug discovery for dermatology indications. Under the terms of the agreement, Vipergen will apply its high-fidelity DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening technologies, including its new in-living-cell DEL platform, to discover novel small-molecule compounds that bind to selected LEO Pharma targets.

5️⃣ Taiwanese company sells knee pain drug for $30 million. TLC Biosciences will receive $30 million in exchange for rights to an injectable treatment for osteoarthritis TLC599, an extended and controlled release liposomal formulated dexamethasone.

⏫ Pipeline and Approvals

1️⃣ China NMPA approves BeiGene's Tislelizumab for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer

2️⃣ EC grants Roche's Mosunetuzumab conditional approval for the treatment of follicular lymphoma

3️⃣ China NMPA approves Everest Medicines’ Trodelvy to treat second-line metastatic triple-negative breast cancer

4️⃣ FDA approves Lilly and Incyte's OLUMIANT (baricitinib) as the first and only systemic medicine for adults with severe alopecia areata

5️⃣ Alnylam scores another FDA nod in hATTR for Vutrisiran

💰 Funding

1️⃣ Spirea raises £2.4mn to develop antibody drug conjugates in cancer. Funding will enable the development of Spirea’s pipeline of antibody drug conjugate therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumours.

2️⃣ Tilt Biotherapeutics raises $10mn to push ahead on cancer immunotherapies. The funding will be used to advance phase I/II programs in Europe and the U.S., using TILT-123 plus immune checkpoint inhibitors against a range of cancers, including ovarian, head and neck, and lung.

3️⃣ Sling Therapeutics emerges with $35mn to tackle thyroid eye disease. The company is focused on the late-stage development of an oral small molecule for treating thyroid eye disease (TED). The funds support a phase 2b clinical trial evaluating its investigational drug, linsitinib.

4️⃣ Meta Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer biotech in immune metabolism, raised $15mn to accelerate its pipeline development. Meta Pharmaceuticals has built an AI-powered metabolic target discovery platform and aims to develop the next generation of safer and more effective autoimmune disease medicines based on new biological mechanisms.

5️⃣ AVM Biotechnology was awarded a $2mn National Cancer Institute SBIR Phase II grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance AVM0703 in cancer. This grant will assist in continuing the company’s existing clinical trial (AVM0703 for Treatment of Leukemia or Lymphoma).

📰 Interesting News

1️⃣ 7 times diabetes tech broke the internet. Diabetes has always been one of the most rapidly growing spaces in Medtech where the innovation has been fast and furious. The space has been an entry point for many companies looking to get into Medtech.

2️⃣ Japan’s five hottest biotech companies in healthcare. While historically lacking in foreign investments, Japan’s biotech scene is thriving with global investors showing increasing interest. Chordia Therapeutics, Heartseed, LUCA Science, Modulus Discovery, and Noile-Immune Biotech are 5 startups to watch out,

3️⃣ Innovations in fertility - Meet 8 femtech companies revolutionizing this space. Aura fertility, Carrot fertility, Ferti.lily, Hertility Mojo, Proov, Screen me, selectivity life are the startups discussed in this article.

4️⃣ Vitamin D deficiency can lead to dementia. A world-first study from the University of South Australia could make this a reality as new genetic research shows a direct link between dementia and a lack of vitamin D.

5️⃣ The benefits of exercise in a pill? Science is closer to that goal. Researchers have identified a molecule in the blood that is produced during exercise and can effectively reduce food intake and obesity in mice.