Plus, news about Harmony Biosciences and Reverb Therapeutics:
Genuine Biotech files for HKEX listing:
The drug developer, which has multiple locations in China,
joins
a growing list of biotechs seeking to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Genuine gained conditional approvals in China for its antiviral azvudine for HIV and Covid-19 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. It requested full approval in Covid last month. The biotech, founded in 2012, applied for an HKEX listing in 2022 but let the application lapse.
— Kyle LaHucik
Radiance Biopharma inks ROR1 ADC deal with CSPC:
Megalith Biopharmaceutical, a New Jersey subsidiary of the Chinese drugmaker,
will get
$15 million upfront, with another $150 million in potential development regulatory milestones and $1 billion in sales milestones, plus royalties. In return, Radiance receives the rights to an ROR1 ADC in the US, EU and UK, among other countries. With the ROR1 ADC deal, Radiance is entering a race led by Merck, which has put its ROR1-directed ADC — zilovertamab vedotin —
into late-stage trials
in certain forms of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Meanwhile, Ipsen last year penned a deal with Sutro for its ROR1-directed ADC.
— Lei Lei Wu
Harmony Biosciences gets refusal to file letter for Wakix:
The company was aiming to get Wakix approved for excessive daytime sleepiness in adults with idiopathic hypersomnia, but the FDA
declined
its submission. Wakix failed a Phase 3 study in the indication in 2023, but Harmony attempted to push the drug forward using open-label data. Wakix was first approved to treat narcolepsy in 2019. Its stock
$HRMY
was down about 8% on Wednesday morning.
— Max Gelman
Reverb Therapeutics’ $12M seed round:
The Vancouver biotech
said
it’s engineering bispecific antibodies to direct cytokines found in the body to specific tissues in hopes of treating autoimmune diseases and cancer. Reverb’s seed round was led by Amplitude Ventures and included the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s venture philanthropy arm and KdT Ventures.
— Lei Lei Wu