🔔
Avalyn Pharma’s $300M IPO:
The Boston, MA-based biotech is
selling
over 16.5 million shares at $18 apiece. The company is set to start trading as
$AVLN
on the Nasdaq Thursday with the offering expected to close Friday. It had originally
targeted
a $182 million IPO. Avalyn is advancing inhaled treatments for rare respiratory diseases. Its lead candidate, called AP01, is in Phase 2 development for progressive pulmonary fibrosis. The company has 51 full-time employees, according to an
SEC filing
. –
Ayisha Sharma
🛑
Alector ends study for GSK-partnered Alzheimer’s drug:
The California biotech
said
it is ending a Phase 2 trial of nivisnebart after an independent committee found it was unlikely to meet the primary endpoint. GSK and Alector plan to discuss their collaboration, which was signed in 2021 and included
$1.5 billion
in potential milestones. In October last year, another GSK-partnered candidate called latozinemab
flunked a Phase 3 study
in dementia. Alector’s first-generation antibody-based neurology platform had a separate disappointment in November 2024, when its AbbVie-partnered candidate AL002
failed
a Phase 2 Alzheimer’s trial. –
Ayisha Sharma
🤝
Teva to acquire Tourette’s drug company for $700M upfront:
At the heart of the
deal
is Emalex’s ecopipam, which is on track for an NDA filing in the second half of the year. Emalex is also eligible for up to $200 million in commercial milestones and royalties. The acquisition reflects Teva’s strategy of focusing on clinically de-risked assets that are “synergistic” with its broader neurology pipeline, CEO Richard Francis told
Endpoints News
in an interview. But Jefferies analysts wrote that “IP is unclear, given [ecopipam is] an old drug.” –
Ayisha Sharma
⏸️
FDA places clinical hold on Newron’s schizophrenia drug:
The decision
came
after the company flagged the sudden death of a patient enrolled in the Phase 3 ENIGMA-TRS 2 trial outside of the US. Newron said an independent board assessed the event and concluded the study should continue as is. The company added it is working to supply the FDA with the necessary information to get the hold lifted. Evenamide targets voltage-gated sodium channels. Newron has previously touted the drug’s strong safety profile as a
potential differentiator
from standard-of-care antipsychotics. –
Ayisha Sharma
Merck has discontinued an anti-CTLA-4 program:
Known as MK-1308A, the fixed-dose coformulation included Keytruda plus the anti-CTLA-4 antibody quavonlimab. The treatment was part of Merck’s Litespark-012 study that examined combinations with Lenvima in first-line renal cell carcinoma. Merck announced earlier this month that both the MK-1308A regimen and a separate regimen involving Merck’s Welireg failed. —
Lei Lei Wu
Leo Pharma buys gene therapy player Replay
: The deal is for $50 million upfront, and nets Leo a preclinical HSV-based gene therapy for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Replay
launched
in 2022 with $55 million in seed funding as a hub-and-spoke gene therapy company. —
Lei Lei Wu
AstraZeneca gets a new protein degrader:
The British pharma
will license
a bispecific antibody degrader from Pinetree Therapeutics, under a $500 million deal inked back in 2024. The candidate, called PTX-299, targets EGFR and has made “encouraging preclinical progress,” the companies announced on Thursday. The move triggers a $25 million payment to Pinetree, and gives AstraZeneca responsibility for future development and commercialization. —
Nicole DeFeudis