Shire has handed back rights to the two biosimilars it acquired through its recent purchase of Baxalta, retaining its focus on the development of drugs for rare diseases.
The UK-based group is returning global development and commercialisation rights to M923, a proposed biosimilar of Humira (adalimumab), to US group Momenta Pharmaceuticals, but will continue to fund the programme for 12 months as per the original deal with Baxalta.
“We view Shire’s decision as a significant opportunity for us to capture additional value from this program for the Company and its shareholders. We remain very excited about the potential for our biosimilar HUMIRA candidate and look forward to reporting top-line results of the current Phase III trial of M923 in late 2016,” said Momenta’s president and chief executive, commenting on the move.
US biotech Coherus BioSciences has also regained from Shire all development and commercial rights previously licensed for CHS-0214 etanercept, a biosimilar candidate to Enbrel, for Europe, Canada, Brazil, the Middle East and other territories.
The drug has successfully completed two Phase III studies, in chronic plaque psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, data from which will support its European marketing application, planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
“These reacquired geographical rights fit well with our existing US CHS-0214 rights, and we now have the opportunity to license throughout Europe, US and other key commercial geographies two complimentary Anti-TNF assets – CHS-0214, an Enbrel biosimilar candidate and CHS-1420, a Humira biosimilar candidate”.
By Selina McKee
Source: Pharma Times
Hybrid closed-loop systems rely on an algorithm to first analyze real-time blood sugar readings from a continuous glucose monitor, then use the results to adjust an insulin pump’s output as needed throughout the day. In this case, the algorithm was developed by Diabeloop, the CGM is a Dexcom G6 sensor, and the insulin pump comes from ViCentra.
Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired bacterial cancer therapy company T3 Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth up to 450 million Swiss francs ($508 million). The addition of Allschwil, Switzerland-based T3 will “significantly expand” the German drugmaker’s immuno-oncology pipeline and aligns with some of the company’s existing R&D programs.
EuroAPI has completed the acquisition of BianoGMP, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in oligonucleotides. The acquisition, announced in August, further differentiates its value proposition to support a broader client base across the whole oligonucleotide development continuum, from research to commercialization, EuroAPI said.
