Austrian biotech Proxygen has announced a multi-year collaboration and license agreement with US drugmaker Merck & Co to identify and develop molecular glue degraders against multiple therapeutic targets. The deal could be worth up to $2.55 billion for Proxygen, based on achieving certain milestones.
Bachem, a Swiss specialist developer and manufacturer of peptides and oligonucleotides, has signed another order worth more than 500 million Swiss francs – or $531 million – to supply large volumes of peptides following a joint development project. The identity of the customer has not been disclosed.
Pfizer is in the early stage of talks to acquire Seagen (formerly Seattle Genetics), a US biotech focused on developing treatments for cancer, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited people familiar with the matter. The purchase price could potentially be more than $30 billion.
Solvay’s venture capital fund has joined the Genesis Consortium, a global alliance of venture capital firms and corporations that support startups leveraging biotechnology to promote both human and planetary health.
A new venture capital vehicle launched by a group of biotech entrepreneurs is designed to act as a seed investor as well as a drug discovery co-pilot for biotech startups that need help with Series-A financing.
UK specialty chemicals company Croda International has agreed to buy Solus Biotech, a South Korean company specializing in ceramide and phospholipid technologies and with emerging capabilities in natural retinol. The purchase price is about £232 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis.
Germany‘s Merck has granted an exclusive license for the tumor-targeting IL-12 fusion protein currently known as M9241 to PDS Biotechnology Corporation, a US-based clinical-stage immunotherapy company with a growing pipeline of targeted immunotherapies for cancer and infectious disease.
AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire Neogene Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and manufacture of next-generation T-cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts) – a promising and novel cell therapy approach to target cancer.
British drugmaker Indivior has agreed to buy Opiant, a US biotech specializing in treatments for addiction and drug overdose. Indivior will pay about $145 million upfront, plus another $68 million if Opiant hits revenue milestones.
To meet surging global demand for its Jynneos-branded monkeypox vaccine, Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic (BN) is pulling out all stops. Strategies include outsourcing production of other vaccines to CDMOs and exploring the reuse of millions of doses that have technically expired but are still viable.
Lonza and Israel Biotech Fund (IBF) have signed a framework agreement, under which the Swiss CDMO will provide advice and support for Israeli biotech companies. IBF is dedicated to investing in and developing Israel’s biotech sector.
Investment in UK biotech and life science companies scored a lifetime high in 2021, according to new data from the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Clarivate.
China’s 14th Five-Year Plan “145” suggests that the dynamics initiated by the previous Five-Year Plan are to be maintained and even surpassed. As in the previous planning period, high priority is given to modernizing the country and the economy through R&D.
Agile and resilient: This is how manufacturers in the life sciences industry could be described during the Covid-19 pandemic. As disruption took hold in many other industries’ supply chains, life sciences companies moved to rapidly develop new products and build new capacity. They are maintaining this momentum, with pharmaceutical and biotech businesses showing continued interest in expanding existing operations in Europe or starting operations from scratch.
Switzerland, as one of the leading global biotech hubs, was well positioned to facilitate international collaborations and develop solutions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and the sector saw record levels of investment in 2020. This is the bottom line of the latest edition of the Swiss Biotech Report, published by the Swiss Biotech Association in conjunction with EY and eight other partner organizations.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujifilm Corp., has announced plans to spend more than $2 billion to build a new large-scale cell culture production site in the US to accelerate the growth of its biopharma CDMO business.
The global market for oligonucleotide therapeutics is expanding rapidly. Bachem, an innovation-driven company based in Bubendorf, Switzerland, has entered this competitive environment in 2019.
The biotech industry in Italy is vital and is showing a constant growth, report by Assobiotec and ENEA documents.
Rentschler Biopharma SE, headquartered in Laupheim, Germany, is a leading, family-owned, full-service biopharma CDMO. Owing to agile decision making and efficient processes, Rentschler Biopharma is the preferred outsourcing partner for bioprocess development, cGMP manufacturing, as well as elaboration of product approval strategies for over 150 clients worldwide.
Swiss chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies help drive research around the world, and major players have research activities in the US, Singapore, Japan, as well as EU facilities in the United Kingdom and Germany. But do not underestimate the role of the domestic regional clusters and industrial sites.
With the cost pressures and time to market challenges that the health care industry faces, pharmaceutical and biotech companies must figure out ways to increase laboratory efficiency by managing its resources more effectively.
Outsourcing product development and manufacturing has become for many pharmaceutical and biotech companies a strategic activity and an integral part of their business model.
Modern therapies of different diseases very often utilize drugs derived from living cells. However, manufacturing of these biopharmaceutical products is a complex process.
