Today, a brief rundown of news involving Novavax and Novo Nordisk, as well as updates from Relay Therapeutics, Takeda and Tubulis that you may have missed.
Novavax has agreed to sell a manufacturing plant in Bohumil, Czech Republic, to Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk for $200 million. The factory, which can produce recombinant protein, will be transferred to Novo along with its supporting buildings, staff and related infrastructure when the deal closes. In addition to boosting Novavax’s cash holdings, the deal will reduce the vaccine maker’s annual operating costs by approximately $80 million. Novo, which has been investing heavily in manufacturing to meet demand for its weight loss and diabetes therapies, is in the midst of closing another deal to acquire three Catalent facilities. — Delilah Alvarado
Elevar Therapeutics, a majority-owned subsidiary of Korea’s HLB Co., is paying $75 million to license a medicine developed by Relay Therapeutics for a form of bile duct cancer. The upfront fee gives Elevar global development and commercialization rights to the drug, called lirafugratinib. Trial data previously suggested lirafugratinib could be more effective than existing options in treating cholangiocarcinoma with certain genetic mutations. A study meant to support an application for accelerated approval is ongoing. — Ned Pagliarulo
Roivant Sciences reported Tuesday that a study run by one of its subsidiaries, Kinevant Sciences, failed to show a benefit for the company’s antibody treatment for chronic active pulmonary sarcoidosis. As a result, further development of the drug, dubbed namilumab, in sarcoidosis will be halted. Analysts had viewed this program as “high-risk, high-reward,” and ascribed little value to its development. Shares in Roivant fell by nearly 3% Tuesday. — Ned Pagliarulo
Takeda will pay $200 million to secure rights outside of China, Hong Kong and Macau to an experimental blood disease drug developed by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Keros Therapeutics. The drug, called elritercept, is in two Phase 2 trials involving people with myelodysplastic syndromes or myelofibrosis. A Phase 3 study is set to begin “soon,” according to the companies. “The addition of elritercept further bolsters our oncology pipeline and introduces a potential future growth driver for Takeda,” said Teresa Bitetti, head of Takeda’s oncology business unit, in a Tuesday statement. — Ned Pagliarulo
Antibody-drug conjugate maker Tubulis announced Tuesday it has struck a deal with Gilead Sciences to find new cancer medicines. Under terms of the collaboration, Gilead paid the German biotech $20 million upfront in exchange for access to its technology and an option to license a program for an additional $30 million fee. If successful, Tubulis stands to gain as much as $415 million in development and commercialization milestone payments, as well as royalties. — Gwendolyn Wu
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- Source: https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/novavax-novo-plant-relay-elevar-takeda-keros/734411/