Merck and Johnson & Johnson are cutting staffers in China as they face local headwinds, according to reports. Australia’s CSL is winding down operations at a cell and gene therapy R&D site in California. Kyowa Kirin inked a commercialization and development deal with Kuro Oncology. Plus more.
As Johnson & Johnson and Merck contend with various business pressures in China, the companies have confirmed plans to cut staffers in the country. Johnson & Johnson’s cuts mostly affect a unit that sells surgical products, while Merck’s cuts impact its diabetes business in the country, according to a report from Bloomberg. Yicai had first reported on the cuts.
Australia’s CSL Behring is shutting down its U.S. R&D hub for cell and gene therapy in Pasadena, California, by the end of January, Fierce Biotech first reported. With the move, CSL is shifting cell and gene therapy R&D activities to Waltham, Massachusetts. About 30 employees are leaving the company with the change, and some are relocating in Waltham, according to a CSL spokesperson.
3. Kyowa Kirin fronts $330M to share rights to Kura's leukemia drug ahead of push to FDA
Japan’s Kyowa Kirin has paid $330 million upfront and committed up to $1.16 billion in milestones in a development and commercialization deal with Kura Oncology. Under the deal, the companies will work together to develop and commercialize Kuro's phase 2 oral leukemia treatment ziftomenib. Kyowa Kirin has secured rights to half of future U.S. profits on the medicine and commercialization rights in the rest of the world. Kura’s ziftomenib is a selective oral menin inhibitor undergoing a midstage study in relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia, among other trials.
Bayer has gained rights to Cytokinetics’ aficamten in Japan in a licensing deal worth 50 million euros upfront and hundreds of millions of euros more in potential milestones. Aficamten is a cardiac myosin inhibitor being developed to treat patients with obstructive and non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Under the collaboration, Bayer plans to run a phase 3 study of the drug in Japanese patients with obstructive HCM, while Cytokinetics will expand a global aficamten study into the country.
5. Eisai sunsets development, access program for withdrawn obesity med in Dravet syndrome
After pulling its obesity drug Belviq (lorcaserin) in 2020 over safety concerns, Eisai still continued to develop the medicine as a potential treatment for Dravet syndrome. That effort has now come to an end with news that Eisai is winding down a phase 3 trial and ending a patient access program. The developments came after another medicine, Zogenix’s Fintepla, scored its own FDA approval in Dravet syndrome.
6. With patent settlement, BeiGene defends blockbuster Brukinsa from MSN's generic threat until 2037
Amid BeiGene’s effort to change its corporate identity, the company has inked a patent settlement that defends its key drug, Brukinsa, from MSN Pharmaceuticals’ generic challenger until 2037. BeiGene had sued MSN and Sandoz in March after the generics companies sought FDA approval for their respective Brukinsa copycats. The MSN deal "resolves all patent litigation" brought by BeiGene against generic rivals, the company said.
7. England's NICE turns down cancer drug Enhertu—again—amid pricing stalemate with AZ, Daiichi Sankyo
Efforts between AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo and England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to reach a pricing agreement on cancer drug Enhertu have “ended without agreement,” NICE said this week. As a result, the agency’s decision not to recommend AZ and Daiichi’s cancer-fighting antibody will remain in place. Over the summer, NICE recommended against NHS England reimbursement for the therapy over cost-effectiveness concerns.
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