Public Company Edition: Cytokinetics executed a royalty financing deal for up to $575m and grossed $500m in a follow-on offering. Also, GSK grossed £1.25bn ($1.58bn) in sale of final Haleon shares, Bicycle raised $555m in a private placement and Apellis accessed up to $475m in debt.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Plus deals involving Immunis/Toray, AstraZeneca/Nona, Swixx/Biopas, Deimos/G1, Serum Institute of India/IntegriMedical/ImmunityBio plus tech transfer agreements and deals in brief.

Recent moves in the industry include C-suite shuffle at Senti Biosciences, plus BioMarin Pharmaceutical gets new chief commercial officer.

From Wyeth/Pfizer to Jiangsu Hengrui to IMab to starting her own biotech, Joan Huaqiong Shen has seen many ups and downs of drug development in China. She sat down with Scrip on the sidelines of the recent DIA China meeting to discuss her latest startup devoted to novel small molecules to treat schizophrenia and epilepsy and a gene therapy for ALS.

The company is adopting a two-pronged strategy to capitalize on its presence in the country to expand the market for its inhaled therapies and biologics for asthma and COPD.

Emerging Company Profile: Efficacy data on the young group’s first pH-engineered antibody-drug conjugate could come next year, and potential partners will be watching.

The UK major’s head of respiratory and immunology, Pablo Panella, tells Scrip that AstraZeneca’s well established presence in the field “gives us an edge.”

Most of the companies with blockbuster drugs approved over the past decade oversaw their clinical development internally. Lilly holds the lead with eight blockbusters developed in-house.

Scrip analyzed data on top-selling drugs to see how long it takes to surpass $1bn in revenues and grow into $5bn and even $10bn brands.

A Scrip analysis of the industry’s top-selling drugs examines the power of indication expansion to drive revenue growth.

The industry’s top-selling drugs generate billions in revenues each year. Scrip analyzed data on nearly 200 blockbuster drugs to see which are forecast to make the most at peak and over a 14-year time horizon.

Glenmark impairs oral solid dosage and nebulizer blocks at US manufacturing site amid tough market conditions. Can the firm's thrust on injectables and new respiratory filings including for generic Flovent, alongside leadership change, lift the US business?

AstraZeneca is looking to speed AZD0780 into Phase III development after it achieved a 78% total LDL cholesterol reduction in a Phase I study when used in combination with rosuvastatin. The firm needs to play catch up with its oral rivals.

Ivonescimab in combination with chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 54% versus placebo in EGFR-mutated, non-squamous NSCLC after failed EGFR inhibitor treatment. However, the progression-free survival data did little to satisfy investors’ demand for clear benefits versus competitors. 

From Wyeth/Pfizer to Jiangsu Hengrui to IMab to starting her own biotech, Joan Huaqiong Shen has seen many ups and downs of drug development in China. She sat down with Scrip on the sidelines of the recent DIA China meeting to discuss her latest startup devoted to novel small molecules to treat schizophrenia and epilepsy and a gene therapy for ALS.

The drug maker anticipates a smooth regulatory path and has already begun to rapidly expand its sales force across most of the US.

Deal Snapshot: Agios sold rights to a 15% royalty on US net sales of the IDH1/2 inhibitor vorasidenib, which it sold to Servier in 2020.

The company is adopting a two-pronged strategy to capitalize on its presence in the country to expand the market for its inhaled therapies and biologics for asthma and COPD.

A report by ICER and Tufts Medical Center’s NEWDIGS said a single strategy cannot adequately address payment challenges for all payers.

Public Company Edition: Cytokinetics executed a royalty financing deal for up to $575m and grossed $500m in a follow-on offering. Also, GSK grossed £1.25bn ($1.58bn) in sale of final Haleon shares, Bicycle raised $555m in a private placement and Apellis accessed up to $475m in debt.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

The 15 July entry deadline for the Citeline Japan Awards 2024 in Tokyo is fast approaching, so here's a reminder to take a look at the categories and criteria and be sure you get those submissions in by this date. Sponsorship opportunities and tables are also available. 

Otsuka has now formally decided to terminate the development of AVP-786 for Alzheimer's agitation, for which it is set to book another JPY100bn loss this year, and marking a major setback for an asset that was a key attraction in a previous large acquisition.