Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH

The first quarter saw a hopeful glimmer in the IPO markets with a handful of biotechs taking the plunge, while Big Pharmas snapped up some small but impactful late-stage companies via M&A. Editor’s note: Last year, we compiled a list of M&A as it happened through our tracker. This year, we’re taking a different approach with a quarterly wrap putting deal activity into context, with M&A and IPOs. Read on for Fierce Biotech’s Quarterly IPO and M&A Roundup. M&A The award for the biggest M&A deal of the first quarter of 2024 goes to Gilead Sciences, which acquired CymaBay Therapeutics for $4.43 billion in February, according to a review of data from market intelligence platform S&P Capital IQ. Following Gilead was Novartis’ $2.77 billion buyout of cancer specialist MorphoSys, then AstraZeneca’s $2.41 billion outlay for Fusion Pharmaceuticals. All three of these deals spoke to the Big Pharma trend of snapping up small-bite biotechs with a late-stage tilt. Novartis specifically eyed MorphoSys’ pelabresib, which is being developed with Incyte’s Jakafi (ruxolitinib) in patients with myelofibrosis. Another gem of the portfolio was tulmimetostat, an early-stage dual inhibitor of the EZH2/EZH1 proteins currently in trials for solid tumors and lymphomas. The deal worked out to 68 euros ($73) per share, according to the companies’ announcement. AstraZeneca, meanwhile, slid into the radiopharmaceutical field thanks to Fusion, which boasts a PSMA-directed radiotherapy called FPI-2265, which is in a phase 2 test for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The two companies had worked together since 2020. The deal marked a 97% premium to Fusion’s closing price the day before the March 19 announcement. Shareholders are up for another $400 million in milestones. Gilead's deal saw it pay out $32.50 per share in cash, a 27% premium to CymaBay's closing price as of Feb. 9. The transaction brings the primary biliary cholangitis med seladelpar into the Big Pharma’s fold, a med that was submitted to the FDA in December 2023. Other big names making deals in the quarter were Johnson & Johnson, which bought Ambrx Biopharma for $2 billion; Novo Nordisk, which used some of its Wegovy/Ozempic cash to buy out Cardior Pharmaceuticals for $1.11 billion; and AstraZeneca again, which also picked up Amolyt Pharma for $1.05 billion. Further down the list, some smaller drug developers got in on the action, but mostly for reverse mergers and smaller pickups of companies or assets in deep trouble. One example is XOMA Corp. swooping in to save Kinnate Biopharma in February for $113 million. Kinnate began a slow slide almost exactly a year ago when phase 1 data for the pan-RAF inhibitor exarafenib in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring oncogenic BRAF or NRAS alterations disappointed at the American Association for Cancer Research 2023 annual meeting. The company cut 70% of staff in September 2023 and narrowed its pipeline. Avrobio also found a savior in Tectonic Therapeutic to execute a reverse merger with. The deal helped drum up $130.7 million in new financing from a handful of venture firms, leaving the new company with $165 million in cash and equivalents to move on with. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/17394821/   IPOs The first quarter saw a hopeful glimmer in the IPO markets with a handful of companies announcing plans to take the plunge. The largest was CG Oncology, which had a total transaction value of $380 million and net proceeds of $353.4 million, according to S&P Capital IQ. The oncolytic immunotherapy company was the first of the year, announcing Jan. 2 and setting off a rush of biotechs following suit. Kyverna Therapeutics was one of them, filing the paperwork Jan. 16 to raise the second-highest amount of the quarter at $319 million with net proceeds of $297.7 million. After that initial rush, the action tailed off with a few more here and there throughout the quarter. The last to head for the public markets in the quarter was Contineum Therapeutics, a J&J-allied company developing a candidate in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive multiple sclerosis. The total transaction value of the IPO was $158.4 million with net proceeds not yet available. Boundless Bio also wrapped things up at the beginning of March, raising a modest $100 million for its precision oncology work. The company priced the 6.25 million shares at $16 apiece, right in the middle of the $15 to $17 planned range.  https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/17397483/

When the Food and Drug Administration expanded approval of Novo Nordisks weight loss medicine Wegovy to also protect heart health, the Danish drug giant had already made a pipeline commitment to developing new cardiovascular treatments.The March 8 approval was followed by news this week that Novo plans to buy German cardiovascular specialist Cardior Pharmaceuticals for north of $1 billion. The heart is back, Cardior CEO and co-founder Claudia Ulbrich told PharmaVoice. Its back for venture capital, and its back for the pharma industry.As revenue from Wegovy sales pour in, Novo Nordisk is in position to bolster its pipeline further. The deal to buy Cardior, whose lead candidate CDR132L is a RNA-based treatment for heart failure, serves that purpose.Cardior is a 2016 spinout from Germanys Hannover Medical School, building on the work of Professor Thomas Thum, now the companys chief scientific and medical officer. Rather than turning to messenger RNA, Cardiors approach makes use of non-coding RNAs that arent translated into proteins, but regulate processes like cardiovascular function, Ulbrich said. CDR132L is an antisense oligonucleotide.Overall, the compound targets heart failure, and under this joint collaboration, we can address a large patient population, Ulbrich said.The cardiovascular drug field hasnt advanced as quickly in recent decades as has oncology and immunology. Over the last 20 years, we haven't really seen innovation in the cardiovascular space we had only symptomatic treatments [like] ACE inhibitors, beta blockers or diuretics, Ulbrich said.GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, and their ability to reduce cardiovascular risk, give physicians new options for certain people and could lay the foundation for new combinations.It's too early to state whether there is potential for our drug to be a combination product because we have a unique and completely different mode of action, Ulbrich said. But Novo is clearly striving to strengthen its pipeline in cardiovascular disease coming from diabetes and obesity.Novo said in a statement that the acquisition is an important step forward for the company to establish a presence in cardiovascular disease. The biotech has invested in other pipeline assets as well, including a $1.3 billion dollar investment for a hypertension drug developed by KBP Biosciences last October. Across Novos pipeline, the company is developing cardiovascular treatments that range from monoclonal antibodies to immunotherapies to cell therapy.For Cardior, the deal provides a way to reach more patients, Ulbrich said.Our first trial was in post-myocardial heart failure, and this is a niche gap where there arent any causal treatments where patients would clearly fit our treatment, Ulbrich said. But now, we will pursue development in a chronic situation, which is a large patient population.Cardior expects results from a Phase 2 trial by the end of the year or the beginning of 2025, Ulbrich said.While the success of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 didnt directly influence Cardior, Ulbrich said companies like Germanys BioNTech improved the industrys understanding of RNA technology, particularly among large pharmaceutical companies.Although not all the details of the transaction are set in stone, Cardior will stay as is for the moment, Ulbrich said.I want to oversee the transition and the next development steps because, having worked seven years for this company and for this program, it affects me personally, Ulbrich said. Overall, this looks like the right partnership and the right deal at the right point in time. '

ILC Dover specialises in the design and production of solutions for the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and medical device markets. Credit: Matej Kastelic / Shutterstock.com. Ingersoll Rand has signed an agreement for the acquisition of ILC Dover from investment company New Mountain Capital for $2.325bn in cash upfront, expanding its presence in life sciences. The acquisition also includes an earnout based on meeting specific operating efficiency metrics this year. ILC Dover specialises in the design and production of solutions for the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and medical device markets. With more than 2,000 employees, the company has a customer base of 11 engineering and production facilities in Asia, North America and Europe. Ingersoll Rand will also set up a life sciences platform within its precision and science technologies (P&ST) segment. See Also: Kodiak Sciences files patent for antibodies binding to complement factor D for treating diseases Novo shells out $1.1bn to buy Cardior to expand cardiovascular pipeline The platform will integrate ILC Dover and the life science-focused brands of Ingersoll Rand including Air Dimensions, ILS, Thomas, Tricontinent, Welch and Zinsser Analytic. The platform will generate $700m, allowing Ingersoll Rand to further concentrate its growth and investment in the life sciences. ILC Dover president and CEO Corey Walker will spearhead the new life sciences platform, reporting directly to Ingersoll Rand chairman and CEO Vicente Reynal. The current P&ST segment head Santiago Arias Duval will continue reporting to Reynal and will be responsible for leading a second platform within the unit. This platform will comprise the remaining P&ST businesses, representing revenue of $1bn. The acquisition will close in the second quarter of 2024. Reynal stated: “This acquisition is the next phase of our long-term vision to expand into higher-growth end markets like life sciences. “We see many opportunities to leverage ILC’s established market positions and brands, including the ability to attach Ingersoll Rand’s existing liquid handling technologies and positive displacement pumps to ILC’s single-use solutions in key biopharma and pharma production processes. “Through ILC, we will get access to approximately 1,000 customers in the broader life science and healthcare sectors, where we can leverage our demand generation capabilities to drive incremental growth in other Ingersoll Rand product lines like compressors.”