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This Week

Dec 15, 2023

Pfizer reveals reorganization, executive departure as it gets ready to close $43B Seagen buyout


Done deal: Pfizer completes $43B acquisition of Seagen, doubling its oncology pipeline


Intrigued by Novartis and Lilly deals, investors pour money into radiopharmaceuticals


UPDATED: Bluebird’s sickle cell gene therapy comes with safety warning and higher price. Can Lyfgenia overcome CRISPR’s halo?


BMS pays $800M upfront for antibody-drug conjugate, opening new front in Merck rivalry


Moderna’s commercial lead ousted as mRNA biotech taps leading execs to front all sales, marketing work


After long-running patent battle, Vertex pays $100M to license Editas’ gene-editing tech

 

Featured

Pfizer reveals reorganization, executive departure as it gets ready to close $43B Seagen buyout

By agreeing to donate royalties on its U.S. sales of bladder cancer drug Bavencio, Pfizer has received the go-ahead to finalize its $43 billion buyout of Seagen, the company said on Tuesday. Pfizer expects to close the merger on Thursday. The company also announced a restructuring of its organization, with leadership changes.
 

Top Stories

Intrigued by Novartis and Lilly deals, investors pour money into radiopharmaceuticals

All of a sudden, radiopharmaceuticals are the hottest game in town—outside of antibody drug conjugates, of course. GlobalData reports that venture capital deals in the space have grown 550% to $408 million this year.

UPDATED: Bluebird’s sickle cell gene therapy comes with safety warning and higher price. Can Lyfgenia overcome CRISPR’s halo?

Alongside a historic approval for the first therapy utilizing the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology, the FDA has cleared a rival gene replacement therapy, also for sickle cell disease (SCD).

BMS pays $800M upfront for antibody-drug conjugate, opening new front in Merck rivalry

Bristol Myers Squibb has filled the antibody-drug conjugate-shaped hole in its pipeline by following the increasingly well-trodden path to China, handing SystImmune $800 million upfront for a phase 1/2 solid tumor candidate as part of a deal worth up to $8.4 billion.

Moderna’s commercial lead ousted as mRNA biotech taps leading execs to front all sales, marketing work

Less than two years after snapping up the chief commercial role at Moderna, Arpa Garay is stepping aside amid a shake-up in the Big Biotech’s commercial unit.

Bristol Myers Squibb bids farewell to dealmaking czar Elizabeth Mily

Three years on, Bristol Myers Squibb is bidding adieu to its top dealmaker. Elizabeth Mily, who replaced BMS’ former M&A czar Paul Biondi back in 2020, is headed for the exit, the company confirmed Friday.

After long-running patent battle, Vertex pays $100M to license Editas’ gene-editing tech

After receiving the FDA greenlight for its sickle cell disease (SCD) gene therapy, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is paying $100 million for rights to Editas Medicines’ Cas9 gene-editing tech, a deal that encompasses freshly approved Casgevy amid a long-running patent battle.

With Beta Bionics collab, Dexcom lines up G7 sensor’s 2nd insulin pump partner in as many days

This week, Tandem Diabetes Care’s t:slim X2 insulin pump made headlines as the first to integrate with Dexcom’s latest G7 sensor to create an artificial pancreas system. A mere 24 hours later, they’re already having to share the spotlight.

After leak of neurotoxin, Sanofi plant in France is under scrutiny again

A Sanofi manufacturing facility in France, which was temporarily closed five years ago for emitting dangerous emissions, is under fire again after a leak caused the release of the same neurotoxin, bromopropane.

New Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology launches to build a ‘genomic smart watch’

A collaboration between the Allen Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of Washington aims to build new technologies that let scientists measure changes in single cells in real time.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

'Podnosis': Breaking down barriers with adaptive recreation

Children’s Specialized Hospital, part of RWJBarnabas, is providing recreation, sports and social programs for kids with special healthcare needs. This week on "Podnosis," Anastassia Gliadkovskaya sat down with Matthew McDonald, M.D., the hospital’s president and CEO, to discuss what it takes to offer these services in-house and the future of pediatric care.
 

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