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Secretive Sana, still a year away from the clinic, files for an IPO after a mammoth raise

Sana Biotechnology is following the Moderna playbook to a tee: Promise a lot based on very early science, be vague, nab a major VC raise, then gun for an IPO.

Canada , Alaska , United-states , Baillie-gifford , Exchange-commission , Harvard-university , Alaska-permanent-fund , Nasdaq , Sana-biotechnology , Arch-venture-partners , Flagship-pioneering , Canada-pension-plan-investment-board

Evoq pens $240M Amgen pact for next-gen autoimmune meds

(Business Wire)
Amgen has penned a deal worth $240 million-plus with biotech Evoq Therapeutics as it looks to the future for autoimmune research.
Looking to bolster the success of its own autoimmune offerings in the form of Otezla, Enbrel and its growing biosimilar products, Amgen is seeking the next generation of therapies for this highly lucrative disease area.
To help with this, Amgen is tapping Michigan-based Evoq, a spinoff from the University of Michigan, and its early-stage preclinical program in autoimmune disease. Amgen will be on the hook for $240 million-plus, as well as sales royalties, although this wasn’t broken down and no upfront figure was cited.

Michigan , United-states , Amgen , University-of-michigan , Evoq-therapeutics , Michigan-based-evoq , Clinical-trials-summit , Premier-educational-event-focused , Decentralized-clinical , Autoimmune-disease , Biotech-deals

Pharmas pause political contributions in wake of Capitol riots, GOP anti-certification votes

Several pharma companies and the two leading industry trade groups are pausing political donations in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riots. They join a broad and growing coalition of businesses reevaluating donations and refusing to fund politicians who denied the presidential election results.

United-states , Washington , America , Alex-gorsky , Michelle-mcmurry-heath , Eli-lilly , Google , Johnson , Microsoft , Clinical-trials-summit , Premier-educational-event-focused , Decentralized-clinical

Tessera Therapeutics scores $230M to ramp up 'gene writing' tech to cure disease

Jan 12, 2021 8:45am
At its core, gene writing simply means writing short or long messages into the genome to treat disease, said Tessera CEO Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Ph.D. (Getty Images)
Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Ph.D.
(Flagship Pioneering)
Move over, gene editing. There’s a new kid on the block. Tessera Therapeutics is pioneering “gene writing,” a kind of genetic medicine it hopes will surmount the limitations of gene editing and gene therapy—and investors have bet more than $230 million on the approach.
At its core, gene writing simply means writing short or long messages into the genome to treat disease, said Tessera CEO Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Ph.D. “What that allows is one to be able to cure or prevent a disease from ever happening by writing in the code of DNA, which of course drives the biology in every single cell in the body,” he said. Tessera is developing multiple ways to do it.

Tessera , Veneto , Italy , Rome , Lazio , Rosana-kapeller , Getty-images , Flagship-pioneering , Clinical-trials-summit , Premier-educational-event-focused , Decentralized-clinical

AstraZeneca bumps up vaccine deal with Brazil to $360M with more doses, licensing rights

In an effort to supercharge distribution of its vaccine hopeful, British drugmaker AstraZeneca has spanned the globe to ink a slew of national supply deals. Now, after inking a more limited pact in June, AstraZeneca and Brazil are ramping up their partnership to make even more doses of the shot.

United-kingdom , Oswaldo-cruz , Rio-grande-do-sul , Brazil , Fiocruz , Estado-do-rio , Brazilian , British , Jair-bolsonaro , Astrazeneca , University-of-oxford , Oswaldo-cruz-foundation

Matching Sinopharm, fellow China biotech Sinovac sees 78% COVID-19 vaccine efficacy

A little over a week after Sinopharm nabbed the world’s first full approval from Chinese regulators on a 79% efficacy showing for its COVID-19 vax, fellow Chinese native Sinovac, using similar tech, has shown pretty much the same numbers.

Beijing , China , Turkey , Campinas , Sãpaulo , Brazil , Chinese , Brazilian , Luiz-carlos-dias , Jair-bolsonaro , Pfizer , Astrazeneca

Buoyed by renewed clamor for infectious disease R&D, Affinivax nabs huge $226M funding round

(Getty / E+ / Geber86)
After getting off a meaty $120 million round in April, the height of the first wave of COVID-19 infections in the West, Affinivax is a clear indicator that infectious disease and vaccine work is here to stay.
Nearly doubling that already impressive B round, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech has nabbed $226 million, with goals of unseating Pfizer’s Prevnar franchise as well as pushing a set of vaccines for hospital-associated infections into the clinic.
Its lead program works as a Prevnar 13 challenger that covers 24 strains of pneumococcus and is fully financed by a partnership with Astellas, as the pair hopes to beat out Pfizer’s big-selling vaccine and its expanded 20-strain effort.

Boston , Massachusetts , United-states , Wellington , New-zealand-general , New-zealand , Cambridge , Cambridgeshire , United-kingdom , Blackrock , Steve-brugger , Pfizer

Chutes & Ladders—Pfizer CMO Rothenberg passes reins to Stanford's Habtezion

Erin Whitney as head of global clinical operations and
Keith White as head of global market access and has also appointed brand strategy consultant
Shauna Horvath to head of global marketing. Whitney joins the team from bluebird bio, while Merck and Genentech veteran White was most recently VP, global market access and pricing at Corbus Pharmaceuticals. Horvath joined Amylyx as a consultant in 2019.
> Culver City, California’s ImmunityBio tapped
Fabio M. Benedetti, M.D., as chief strategy officer, effective Jan. 4. Should ImmunityBio’s NantKwest merger close, Benedetti is expected to assume the role of CSO at the combined company, ImmunityBio said. Benedetti joins from combination therapy specialist Apollomics, where he was chief medical officer.

Stanford-university , California , United-states , Kimball-hall , Boston , Massachusetts , San-diego , Cambridge , Cambridgeshire , United-kingdom , Culver-city , Tracy-hervey

Fujifilm socks $2B into new U.S. site as its global CDMO ambitions take shape

Jan 7, 2021 9:28am
Fujifilm is investing $2 billion to expand its CDMO capabilities in the U.S. The planned site is shown here in a rendering. (Fujifilm)
Seeking to dramatically bolster its position in the contract development and manufacturing business, Fujifilm is investing $2 billion on a large cell culture production site in the U.S.
The site will feature eight 20,000 liter bioreactors and have the potential for another 24 bioreactors depending on future market demand. Fujifilm plans to offer drug substance manufacturing and fill and finish services, plus packaging and labeling at the site.
Fujifilm's subsidiary Diosynth Biotechnologies will operate the facility. The company plans to expand at an existing location in the U.S., and it expects to start operating its new facility in the spring of 2025. Fujifilm is still in conversations about the exact location, a spokeswoman said, noting that the company has sites in more than 25 states.

Watertown , Massachusetts , United-states , Denmark , Texas , Eli-lilly , Fujifilm , Diosynth-biotechnologies , Clinical-trials-summit , Premier-educational-event-focused , Decentralized-clinical , வாட்டர்டவுன்

Bayer's VC arm leads $105M round for 'gene circuit' startup Senti Bio

(Getty Images)
Leaps by Bayer has led a chunky $105 million series B round for next-gen gene therapy player Senti Biosciences.
Nearly three years after its initial $53 million series A, Senti Bio now has now doubled its funding, adding Bayer’s VC arm into the mix and continuing in 2021 its ongoing mission to become a broad gene therapy player.
Fierce 15 winner Senti Bio’s approach involves what it calls “gene circuits,” essentially tweaking a cell’s genetic code which can morph in order to address the severity of a disease, all the while limiting side effects.
The Californian biotech is applying its gene circuit tech specifically toward allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cells, a growing area of interest in oncology.

China , California , United-states , Californian , Tim-lu , Enterprise-associates , Senti-bio , Clinical-trials-summit , Premier-educational-event-focused , Decentralized-clinical , Matrix-partners-china , Mirae-asset-capital