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Jounce Therapeutics Regains Worldwide Rights to JTX-8064 from Bristol Myers Squibb
“We are thrilled to regain the rights to JTX-8064 and we view this as a significant opportunity for Jounce. Though we highly valued our longstanding partnership with Celgene, now a Bristol Myers Squibb company, having an additional wholly-owned program enables us to further our mission to discover new immunotherapies from a variety of important immune cell types, and develop them for patients who are not well served by today’s therapies,” said Richard Murray, Ph.D., chief executive officer and president of Jounce Therapeutics. “The discovery and development of JTX-8064 showcases the strength of our Translational Science Platform in target identification, and our ability to move programs towards the clinic in a rapid manner. In particular, we believe that LILRB2 may function as an immune checkpoint for macrophages and based on our body of existing preclinical data, JTX-8064 has the potential to re-program tumor-associated macrophages within the tumor microenvironment and enhance anti-tumor immunity. We are eager to advance this program into the clinic and will make every effort to do this expeditiously."
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Why AstraZeneca’s merger talks with Gilead may not take off
On 8th June 2020, Bloomberg carried a report of a potential merger proposal extended to Gilead Sciences by AstraZeneca. The details of the proposal are unavailable. There is, however, skepticism over the merger taking place as both parties are vested in their own drug pipelines with different strategies.
“We do not believe a merger with AZ is inline w/GILD’s current approach to BD, preferring smaller deals. There could be potential onc. & inflammation synergies, but otherwise is not a rational combo.”- Evan Seigerman (Credit Suisse)
“From a biopharma industry point of view, it may suggest that AZN is looking to leverage its valuation and current strategic position by making a large acquisition to diversify away from their dependence on its blockbuster oncology franchise, and add another strong franchise or two that offsets any risk that may emerge now or in the future in the oncology business.”- Geoffrey Porges (SVB Leerink)
“While interesting and good for GILD’s stock price, we do not view this deal as likely. As we have noted before, we think GILD believes its HIV biz is very underappreciated by the Street and would prefer to build value over time and do its own tuck-in deals”- Michael Yee (Jefferies).
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Legend Biotech makes the largest IPO offering of the year at $424 million basis its multiple myeloma CAR-T cell therapy
Legend Biotech Corporation (Legend; Somerset, New Jersey), formed as a china-based subsidiary of GenScript (Piscataway, New Jersey) in 2014, has developed a first in class B cell maturation antigen (BCMA)- targeted CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma. Called JNJ-4528, the efficacy of the treatment was proven in Phase I clinical trials where 25 out of 29 subjects showed complete response to the drug. The trials were conducted in collaboration with Jannsen Biotech (HQ: Horsham, Pennsylvania). JNJ-4528 is now poised for Phase II testing.
On 5th June 2020, Legend announced $23/share in its initial public offering of 18 million shares, giving the IPO a size of $424 million. The IPO was supplemented by the purchase of 1 million shares by GenScript which continues to be the majority shareholder, adding $24 million to Legend’s accounts.
Legend plans to apply for regulatory approval in the US and EU by the third quarter of the year and is also looking at approval for its therapy in Japan. The company plans to utilize $160-180 million in furthering development of JNJ-4528, $60-75 million towards developing manufacturing facilities and $15-20 million for commercialization of the drug, if approved.
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