Johnson & Johnson
is
partnering
with the Japanese company
Kaken
on a STAT6 program. J&J will get the rights to KP-723, an oral STAT6 inhibitor still in preclinical testing, and take over development after Kaken completes Phase 1 studies. Kaken gets $30 million upfront and up to $1.2 billion. —
Max Gelman
Kronos Bio
and
Roche
ended their R&D alliance
following Kronos’ significant downsizing, according to SEC documents. The biotech elected to
end development
on a CDK9 inhibitor called istisociclib last month, resulting in layoffs of about 83% and the departure of CEO Norbert Bischofberger. Kronos and Roche had
partnered
in 2023 on a different program for $20 million upfront and $554 million in milestones. —
Max Gelman
AusperBio
raised a
$73 million Series B
round led by HanKang Capital, the proceeds of which will fund mid-stage development of its lead candidate AHB-137. The antisense oligonucleotide, intended as a functional cure for hepatitis B, is in a Phase 2 trial in China that could be reported next year. The company said the new financing will also enable global trials of AHB-137, as well as expansion of its therapeutic pipeline, manufacturing and operational capabilities.
— Elizabeth Cairns
A few months after announcing a
strategic review
, London-based
Achilles Therapeutics
is
offloading
data and samples from its non-small cell lung cancer study to
AstraZeneca
for $12 million. The UK pharma will also get access to a platform and network of tumor samples from nearly 300 cancer patients.
— Kyle LaHucik
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo
have
withdrawn their European Medicines Agency application
for the ADC datopotamab deruxtecan in lung cancer. While AstraZeneca has positioned the drug as a successor to Enhertu, the company said in May that a lung cancer trial failed to reach its overall survival goal. —
Max Gelman
China’s
CASI Pharmaceuticals
said in a
securities filing
that its experimental drug CID-103 has been put on a clinical hold by the FDA. The drug is an anti-CD38 antibody that’s being studied to prevent the rejection of transplanted kidneys. The company said it plans to respond to the FDA.
– Drew Armstrong
Assembly Biosciences
reported
interim Phase 1b data for its hepatitis B antiviral program ABI-4334. In patients who were predominantly hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative, ABI-4334 induced a 99.9% average decline of hepatitis B virus DNA (a 2.9 log10 reduction). Among those with detectable virus RNA at baseline, there was an average decline of 99.7% (2.5 log10). Assembly said there were “limited changes in viral antigens” due to the nature of the 28-day study. The company is
partnered
with Gilead on a trio of antivirals, including ABI-4334. —
Max Gelman
