Fierce Pharma Asia—AbbVie's TL1A deal; Ex-Takeda staffer's guilty plea; Kyowa Kirin's $530M plant investment
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Source: FiercePharma
AbbVie's TL1A deal with FutureGen Biopharma, an ex-Takeda staffer's scam scheme and Kyowa Kirin's hefty investment in North Carolina made our news this week.
Through a licensing deal with a Chinese biotech, AbbVie is the latest Big Pharma to bet on TL1A in immunology. A former Takeda employee has pleaded guilty to scamming the Japanese drugmaker through a fake consulting firm. Kyowa Kirin will invest up to $530 million in a biologics plant in North Carolina. And more.
AbbVie is paying $150 million upfront for a preclinical inflammatory bowel disease candidate from China’s FutureGen Biopharmaceutical, with $1.56 billion in potential milestones. The drug targets TL1A, the same focus of Roche’s $7 billion acquisition of Telavant and Merck’s $11 billion takeover of Prometheus Biosciences last year. AbbVie believes its asset is different from first-generation antibodies.
2. Ex-staffer pleads guilty to scamming Takeda out of $2.3M through fake consulting firm
A former senior level employee at Takeda has pleaded guilty to charges around how she and a co-conspirator allegedly defrauded the drugmaker into paying $2.3 million for fake consulting work. The scheme began in 2022, when the ex-staffer incorporated the sham consulting practice. The two allegedly used the money to buy a diamond ring, a condo and a Mercedes-Benz and to make a down payment on a wedding venue.
3. Kyowa Kirin to expand manufacturing footprint with $530M biologics plant in North Carolina
Kyowa Kirin is pouring up to $530 million into building a 171,700-square-foot biologics facility in Sanford, North Carolina, as the Japanese company’s first manufacturing site in North Amerca. The size of the investment was significantly larger than the previously announced $200 million. The site is expected to create more than 100 jobs and is expected to be fully operational by 2027.
4. WuXi shares jump after BIOSECURE Act's exclusion from defense spending bill
WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics got a temporary reprieve as uncertainty grows around the BIOSECURE Act’s legislative path. The bill was denied consideration in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which determines the Department of Defense’s budget each year. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the lead GOP sponsor of the bipartisan bill, told Axios that he would seek other routes to move the bill forward.
5. Would BIO support a biosecurity bill targeting drug developers? Hear CEO John Crowley’s response
Meanwhile, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s CEO John Crowley said he has expressed to Congress that any potential new targets under the BIOSEUCRE Act must be based on “very clear and convincing evidence.” A recent request for an intelligence briefing on GenScript and its related businesses raised the faintest possibility of a potential expansion of the bill. However, Kevin Noonan, Ph.D., from law firm MBHB argued that the bill wouldn’t target drug developers.
6. Analysts tip Lilly's Alzheimer's launch to boost rival Leqembi
As Eli Lilly’s donanemab sailed through an FDA advisory committee meeting, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts figured the drug could beat Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi on sales in 12 months after a potential approval in part because of its more convenient dosing and the ability to stop treatment. Nevertheless, William Blair analysts viewed donanemab’s potential approval as an opportunity to boost the overall Alzheimer’s disease market for anti-amyloid drugs.
7. Alumis sets out IPO ambitions to fund TYK2 inhibitorTYK2 inhibitor through phase 3 psoriasis trials
Alumis is looking for an IPO to accelerate the development of its immunology pipeline. The company’s lead asset, a TYK2 inhibitorTYK2 inhibitor coded ESK-001, was in-licensed from China’s Haisco Pharma back in 2021 for up to $180 million in upfront and potential milestone payments. The California biotech now aims to advance the drug—a potential competitor to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Sotyktu—into phase 3 trials in plaque psoriasis later this year.
Other News of Note:
8. European antitrust watchdog accuses API manufacturer Alchem of engaging in price-fixing scheme
10. Lotus Pharma picks up Teva's Thailand operations for undisclosed sum
11. Junshi, Coherus' PD-1 inhibitorPD-1 inhibitor Loqtorzi scores in phase 3 liver cancer trial
12. Takeda extends Partners in Health collab to improve access to care in Massachusetts
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