A. Menarini Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite Srl

Sinocare countered Abbott\'s infringement claims by saying the FreeStyle Libre’s circular shape lacked distinctive character. The U.K. court agreed. \n A U.K. court has ruled against Abbott in a trademark infringement case the company had brought over the design of a rival Chinese diabetes device maker’s continuous glucose monitor.Abbott had claimed that the shape of Sinocare’s iCan i3 wearable CGM was too similar to its own FreeStyle Libre sensor—in this case, the small, white disc placed on the upper arm.Sinocare first launched its CGM system in China in 2023 and since then has expanded into the U.K. and Europe. The company obtained a CE mark last month opening up the latest iCan’s use to children with diabetes as young as 2 years old and last December inked a distribution deal with Italy’s A. Menarini Diagnostics to enter 20 jurisdictions on the continent.In its claims filed with the U.K. High Court of Justice’s chancery division, Abbott said Sinocare’s similarity could cause customers to confuse or associate the two devices—especially when the two were placed among other CGMs, such as the more-oblong Dexcom G7, or the mushroom-shaped Guardian system from Medtronic.  Sinocare countered by saying the FreeStyle Libre’s 3D design, with its simple circular shape, lacked distinguishing character—and that the form of the device was unnecessary to the sensor’s technical ability to read blood sugar levels.The U.K. court agreed Feb. 7, saying the non-distinctive shape could not be trademarked. In addition, the judgment (PDF) said that healthcare providers and people with diabetes would be intimately familiar with the differences between CGM systems and would not rely on the shape of the sensors when making a prescription.Abbott had voluntarily surrendered the trademark at the EU’s Intellectual Property Office in early January, following oral arguments in the U.K. as well as a similar ruling by an Austrian court.“Each of these decisions marks a significant victory for innovation and fair competition in the medical technology industry, affirming that product designs based on technical functionality cannot be monopolized through trademark protection,” Sinocare said in a statement. “The judgments also reinforce the importance of consumer choice in diabetes care, ensuring that advanced CGM solutions remain accessible to users across the UK and beyond.”

Drug discovery startup Insilico Medicine and Italian pharmaceutical company Menarini Group announced their second licensing agreement, targeting unmet needs in oncology with a novel AI-discovered preclinical asset. The agreement grants Stemline Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Menarini, global rights to develop and commercialize a selective small molecule inhibitor with broad anti-tumor activity. Developed using Insilico's Chemistry42 AI platform, the asset successfully completed preclinical trials. Under the terms, Insilico will receive a $20 million upfront payment, with the deal's total potential value exceeding $550 million through development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties. The partnership follows Menarini's 2024 acquisition of MEN2312, another AI-discovered asset targeting KAT6 inhibitors for breast cancer. MEN2312 rapidly progressed into clinical trials. "We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Insilico, a leader in generative AI," Elcin Barker Ergun, CEO of the Menarini Group, said in a statement. "This partnership allows us to address critical gaps in oncology treatment and reach more patients globally with innovative therapies." THE LARGER TREND This partnership highlights the potential of AI to revolutionize pharmaceutical innovation, enabling faster development of targeted therapies and the growing role of generative AI (genAI) in accelerating drug discovery and development. The technology is being leveraged for precision medicine, addressing critical unmet needs in cancer treatment and accelerating timelines from discovery to clinical application. Major technology companies, including Google DeepMind and its AlphaProteo project are part of the evolution, as well as numerous startups across the globe, including Israeli startup CytoReason, which recently received $80 million in a funding round. In October, AION Labs launched ProPhet, a startup using AI to accelerate drug discovery by identifying high-affinity small molecules for challenging protein targets, aiming to refine early-stage processes and reduce time and costs. IBM and German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim have also partnered to leverage IBM's advanced large-scale neural network architectures to accelerate the discovery of therapeutic antibodies for treating cancer, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases and other medical conditions. In June 2024, Australian researchers developed PSICHIC, an AI tool that decodes protein-molecule interactions from sequence data without costly 3D rendering. The tool screens drug candidates, profiles selectivity, and distinguishes functional effects, streamlining and lowering the cost of drug discovery. A South Korea-based collection of research institutes is also plugging in the power of AI to accelerate cancer drug discovery in a four-phase project, the latest in a series of government-backed initiatives leveraging machine learning and big data.

Insilico designed the new asset using its Chemistry42 platform for generating druglike compounds—as was the subject of last year’s deal, MEN2312, which aims to inhibit transcription of KAT6 and block the estrogen receptors of breast cancer cells. \n Another new year, another half-billion-biobuck transaction between Insilico Medicine and the Italian drugmaker Menarini Group.Following a licensing agreement last January—which saw Menarini’s Stemline Therapeutics subsidiary pick up an artificial intelligence-designed breast cancer therapy candidate from Insilico for $12 million upfront and more than $500 million tied to its future successes—the two companies are at it again with a similar deal.Their second exclusive, global in-licensing covers a second small molecule inhibitor, this time targeting what they described as a variety of solid tumors. According to Insilico and Stemline, the potential drug has successfully completed preclinical testing.This time, the new deal includes $20 million paid upfront, with more than $550 million linked to clearing development, regulatory and commercial milestones. “We are thrilled to enter our second collaboration with Insilico Medicine, a leader in the field of generative AI, for a highly selective and potentially best-in-class small molecule targeting a broad range of cancers,” Menarini CEO Elcin Barker Ergun said in a statement. “This asset will help us enter into new areas of high unmet need, expanding the tumor areas where we can help cancer patients with ground-breaking therapies.”Insilico—a former Fierce Medtech Fierce 15 and Fierce 50 winner—designed the new asset using its Chemistry42 platform for generating druglike compounds. As was the subject of last year’s deal, MEN2312, which aims to inhibit transcription of KAT6 and block the estrogen receptors of breast cancer cells, with the goal of overcoming the tumor’s resistance to endocrine-based therapies. Stemline has said it is currently evaluating MEN2312 as a single agent and in combination with standard-of-care treatments in patients with metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer.“Our previous experience with Menarini Stemline proved that the company is efficient, agile, strategic, and committed to rapidly delivering the best novel therapeutic solutions to patients with cancer, maximizing the probability of success of the program,” said Insilico’s founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D.