Afamitresgene Autoleucel

Today, a brief rundown of news involving Evotec, Bluebird bio and the company formerly known as BeiGene, as well as updates from Leerink Partners and Abeona Therapeutics that you may have missed.Halozyme Therapeutics has made an unsolicited bid to buydrug discovery specialist Evotec for 11 euros per share in cash, an offer worth some 2 billion euros in total. In a press release, Halozyme said the combined company could offer increased scale and become a highly attractive strategic partner to the drug industry. Evotec, in its own statement, said it would carefully analyze this expression of interest. Ned PagliaruloBluebird bio has recorded its first revenue from sales of Lyfgenia, the companys gene therapy for sickle cell disease that won U.S. approval late last year. The process to prepare and receive Lyfgenia is lengthy, so only recently did the first patient actually get an infusion, at which point Bluebird books revenue for the $3.1 million therapy.Another 16 patients have started the process to receive treatment. The company is counting on climbing demand for Lyfgenia and its two other gene therapies, Zynteglo and Skysona, as it works to break even. Currently, it has enough cash to fund operations into the first quarter. Ned PagliaruloCancer drugmaker BeiGene will now operate under the name BeOne Medicines, a change that it says reflects its commitment to oncology research. The name also distances the company from its roots in China, a connection that may be less helpful as lawmakers in the U.S. increasingly view such ties as a national security risk. BeOne, which trades on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges as well as the Nasdaq, is headquartered in California and in Switzerland. Ned PagliaruloAdaptimmune will lay off a third of its workforce in a bid to save about $300 million and break even financially in 2027, the company said Wednesday. Adaptimmune in August won U.S. clearance for its first product, a cell therapy called Tecelra for a type of soft tissue cancer. Going forward, the company will focus resources on that launch and another program in development for similar cancers, while partnering off two unrelated projects in preclinical testing. Its also shutting down a Phase 2 study in ovarian tumors.Ben FidlerLeerink Partnershas named two senior managing directors, Grant Curry and Jason Truman, to join its biopharma M&A team. Truman previously worked in a similar role at Guggenheim Securities, while Curry was a managing director at Gordon Dyal & Co. Leerink, which reemerged via a management buy-out after the collapse of SVB Financial Group,hopes to grow its M&A business. Outside of the big banks, Centerview Partners, Lazard and PJT Partners currently win the most deal business from drugmakers, according to BioPharma Dive data. Ned PagliaruloBy the end of next April, Abeona Therapeutics should know whether the Food and Drug Administration will approve its gene therapy pz-cel for a rare wound healing condition known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. The agency rejected pz-cel this past April, asking Abeona for more information on how its produced.The company then resubmitted its application with new information and, on Thursday, secured a target decision date of April 29, 2025 from the agency. Ned Pagliarulo '