BenevolentAI Ltd.

Plus, news about NewAmsterdam, Rocket, ImmunityBio, CG Oncology, Spruce Biosciences, Pharming, Veradermics, Noema Pharma, Ambrosia Biosciences, EsoBiotec, Cellectar Biosciences and Hepion: BenevolentAI’s overhaul: The struggling AI biotech said it plans to lay off staff, consider delisting from the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, partner its early-stage assets and undergo other additional organizational shifts as co-founder Ken Mulvany returns . Its Amsterdam-listed stock was down 10% on Wednesday. — Kyle LaHucik Cimeio Therapeutics, Kyowa Kirin make a deal: The Japanese drugmaker is paying up to $300 million as part of an agreement to develop new cell therapies. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. — Jaimy Lee At least three public offerings have been disclosed over the past day, including NewAmsterdam ’s bid to raise $300 million; Rocket ’s upsized $165 million offering ; ImmunityBio ’s $100 million financing ; and CG Oncology ’s offering , which has yet to be priced. — Jaimy Lee Spruce’s Phase 2b fail for endocrine disorder drug: The South San Francisco biotech said tildacerfont administered once daily did not meet the primary endpoint of glucocorticoid reduction in a mid-stage study of people with adult congenital adrenal hyperplasia. But the trial’s principal investigator said the data suggest twice daily dosing may be more effective. Its stock $SPRB was down about 25% on Wednesday morning. — Ayisha Sharma Pharming’s rare disease med passes Phase 3 test in kids: The Dutch drugmaker’s Joenja for activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome (APDS) met the primary endpoints in a late-stage trial of patients aged four to 11 years old. Joenja won FDA approval for APDS patients aged 12 and older in March 2023. Pharming plans to submit global regulatory filings in children starting in 2025. — Ayisha Sharma Veradermics’ $75M Series B: The Connecticut-based dermatology and aesthetics biotech raised the financing as it begins a Phase 2/3 study in hair loss. — Kyle LaHucik Noema adds $35M from EQT Life Sciences: A second close of a Series B first announced in March of last year brings the total for the round to CHF 130 million, which is about $147 million. The cash will fund Noema’s four ongoing Phase 2 trials: mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator basimglurant in trigeminal neuralgia and seizures in tuberous sclerosis complex; gemlapodect, a PDE10a inhibitor, in Tourette syndrome; and NOE-115, a monoamine modulator, in menopause symptoms. — Elizabeth Cairns Merck backs Ambrosia: The New Jersey pharma giant invested in the biotech’s Series A, which now totals $25 million. Ambrosia previously announced plans to take over a former Pfizer site in Boulder as it builds out an oral small-molecule pipeline for obesity and metabolic disorders. — Kyle LaHucik EsoBiotec scores €22M: The Belgian cell therapy specialist raised the equivalent of $23 million from backers that include Thuja Capital, UCB Ventures and Invivo Partners. The company’s immune-shielded lentiviral vector, which is called ESO-T01, is designed to reprogram T lymphocytes into BCMA CAR-T cells in vivo . It will enter an investigator-initiated trial in multiple myeloma in China, its first in humans, and data are expected in the second half of 2025, which could allow expansion to indications including autoimmune diseases. — Elizabeth Cairns Cellectar lays off 60% of its workers: The biotech is prioritizing its pipeline and letting go of staff. Cellectar had 20 employees at the end of 2023. Its stock price $CLRB sank 62% in pre-market trading on Wednesday. — Kyle LaHucik Hepion Pharmaceuticals ends merger plans with Pharma Two B. — Jaimy Lee

Artificial intelligence biotech firm BenevolentAI is reorganizing its operations for the second time in less than two years, and this time it says the changes will take the company back to its original mission of serving biopharma industry partners. Going forward, London-based BenevolentAI will refocus its efforts on its core technologies for drug discovery and development. The Wednesday announcement offered few financial details, but the company did say the coming changes include plans to take the company private. BenevolentAI went public in a 2022 SPAC merger that brought the company to the Euronext Amsterdam exchange and infused it with €225 million (about $236 million). At that time, the company said it had 300 employees spread across offices in London and New York as well as laboratories in Cambridge, U.K. BenevolentAI also said its internal pipeline had more than 20 programs in various stages of development. Since its public markets debut, the company’s stock price has steadily declined. Sponsored Post The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches. By Eve McDavid - CEO of Mission-Driven Tech BenevolentAI had taken a two-pronged approach to business. It sought partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech firms interested in using its proprietary technologies for identifying or validating drug targets, designing new drugs, and repurposing existing drugs for other indications. Companies leveraging BenevolentAI’s technologies for such applications include Merck KGaA, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly. BenevolentAI receives upfront fees and milestone payments. In the case of Lilly, the AI company received an equity investment. The second piece of BenevolentAI’s business model focused on in-house drug discovery and development with a goal of out licensing or partnering these assets at key value-inflection points. This part of the business has had some stumbles. Last year, BenevolentAI stopped work on an internally discovered atopic dermatitis program after Phase 2 results showed the drug did not reduce itch and inflammation. A subsequent corporate restructuring focused the company on other clinical and preclinical assets. Months later, CEO Joanna Shields stepped down from her role. She was succeeded by Bayer veteran Joerg Moeller. In October, BenevolentAI announced the departure of Moeller and the appointment of Kenneth Mulvaney as executive chairman. Mulvaney founded BenevolentAI in 2013 and he returned to the company’s board of directors this past May. Currently, BenevolentAI’s most advanced internal program is BEN-8744, an orally administered PDE10 inhibitor. This drug is early clinical development for ulcerative colitis and the company says the molecule has potential applications in other inflammatory bowel disorders. Preclinical assets include drug candidates for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and glioblastoma. While BenevolentAi said it will maintain its drug development partnering strategy for internally discovered and developed drugs, it will now seek to partner these assets earlier in the development cycle. On the technology front, BenevolentAI said it will transform its offerings into more flexible, standalone products designed to address the needs of its biopharma partners. Consumer / Employer Health Executives on Digital Transformation in Healthcare Hear executives from Quantum Health, Surescripts, EY, Clinical Architecture and Personify Health share their views on digital transformation in healthcare. By MedCity News BenevolentAI did not specify how many jobs could be cut in the reorganization. The company’s financial report for the first half of 2024 states it had 180 employees in London and Cambridge. As of June 30, BenevolentAI reported its cash position was £38.1 million (about $48.5 million), which the company had projected would support operations late into the third quarter of 2025. With the restructuring, BenevolentAI now projects its cash runway will extend into 2027. BenevolentAI said its board concluded it is in the company’s best interest to delist from Euronext Amsterdam because the financial costs associated with being a public company divert resources away from core activities. “By reallocating these funds toward the development and commercialization of AI technologies, BenevolentAI can more effectively meet partners’ needs,” the company said in its announcement. “Additionally, transitioning to a private company would grant greater operational agility and reduced corporate complexity, enabling the Company to better lead the dynamic TechBio sector it has helped to pioneer and develop over the last decade.” Illustration: metamorworks, Getty Images

Today, a brief rundown of news involving BenevolentAI and Tasca Therapeutics, as well as updates from Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Biogen that you may have missed.BenevolentAI co-founder Kenneth Mulvaney says he is taking the AI drug discovery specialist back to its techbio foundation in a restructuring announced by the firm Wednesday. Mulvaney returned to lead BenevolentAI in October, replacing then-CEO Joerg Moeller. Reshaping BenevolentAI involved tough but necessary decisions, Mulvaney said in a statement that outlined BenevolentAIs next steps, which include layoffs and a plan to delist from the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company also said that, going forward, it would attempt to partner its drug candidates earlier in development to reduce its balance sheet risk. The Board is wholly behind this strategic direction and restoration of the business to its TechBio roots, deputy chair Peter Allen said in the statement. Ned PagliaruloTasca Therapeutics raised $52 million in a Series A round, the biotechnology startup said Tuesday. Backed by Cure Ventures and Regeneron Ventures, the company claims it has a new way to identify cancer drug candidates. The Series A will be used to fund development of its lead program, called CP-383, in Phase 1/2 studies in people with cancers of the lung, colon, head and neck, and brain. Gwendolyn WuEli Lillys board of directors has given the company a green light to buy back up to $15 billion worth of stock, triple the size of Lillys last share repurchase program. The board also authorized a 15% increase to Lillys dividend. Given the strong growth profile of the company, we're ... increasing the amount of capital we plan to return to shareholders, Lilly CFO Lucas Montarce said in a Monday statement. Lilly shares are up about 37% this year, although its stock price growth has cooled in recent months. The company plans to complete its newly authorized share buybacks within three years. Ned PagliaruloAn experimental drug for Parkinsons disease has succeeded in a second late-stage clinical trial, convincing its owner, AbbVie, theres enough evidence to file for approval. While few details were given, AbbVie said the drug, called tavapadon, was significantly better than a placebo at improving patients ability to do daily tasks that require muscle movement, like speaking, eating and writing. The company plans to submit an approval application sometime next year. Tavapadon was one of the assets AbbVie got last year through its nearly $9 billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics. Another key asset from that deal, the schizophrenia drug emraclidine, suffered a major setback last month. Jacob BellBiogen has poached a big pharma investor whisperer, announcing Monday the appointment of Tim Power as head of investor relations. Its the latest addition to an executive team that has undergone considerable change over the past couple years. Power spent the better part of the last decade dealing with investors for Bristol Myers Squibb. Now, at Biogen, he will report to Chief Financial Officer Michael McDonnell, who is set to retire in February. McDonnell said in a statement that Powers expertise, communication skills and strong background in articulating breakthrough scientific advancements will be invaluable for Biogen. Jacob Bell '