Tristan Mañalac

1 week ago | biospace.com | Tristan Mañalac

Astellas Pharma on Thursday inked an exclusive licensing agreement with Suzhou-based Evopoint Biosciences to advance a novel antibody-drug conjugate targeting solid tumors. As per the terms of the agreement, Astellas will front $130 million while also earmarking up to $70 million in near-term payments. Milestones associated with developmental, regulatory and commercial successes can rack up to $1.34 billion in additional payments to Evopoint, yielding a total deal value over $1.5 billion.

1 week ago | biospace.com | Tristan Mañalac

Keros Therapeutics will no longer develop the fusion protein cibotercept for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a move that the biotech on Thursday said triggered a 45% reduction in force. The layoffs will start after the 60-day notice period required by law and will help the company realize annualized savings of some $17 million, as per Thursday’s news release.

1 week ago | biospace.com | Tristan Mañalac

The Make America Healthy Again Report, which the White House released last week to examine what it describes as the “root causes of deteriorating child health,” cites studies and references that don’t exist, according to a Thursday report from the nonprofit news outlet NOTUS. The report claims to be “backed by compelling data and long-term trends” and grounded on “common scientific basis,” but NOTUS analysis revealed that at least seven of its cited sources could not be found.

1 week ago | biospace.com | Tristan Mañalac

Merck and Daiichi Sankyo withdrew their regulatory application Thursday for the investigational antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan, which the partners were proposing as a treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. In explaining the unusual move, the partners said patritumab deruxtecan, also called HER3-DXd, failed to significantly improve overall survival in the Phase III HERTHENA-Lung02 trial, as per a topline readout.

1 week ago | biospace.com | Tristan Mañalac

iTeos Therapeutics’ strategic review from just days ago culminated in a decision to wind down the company’s operations and sell off its remaining assets and intellectual property, the biotech announced Wednesday. In an SEC filing on Tuesday, iTeos noted that it expected to absorb certain charges associated with the closure, though was yet “unable to make a good faith estimate of the total amount” of such costs.