Pharma Investment Roundup 15-Jul-22

Amazon announces cancer vaccine collaboration

13 July 2022

An FDA filing has made public that retail tech giant Amazon plans to collaborate with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the development of breast and skin cancer vaccines. The two companies confirmed the partnership, with Phase I trials already underway. The move is a continuation of a pattern of expansion in healthcare by Amazon: the company launched an online pharmacy in 2020 and already provides a telehealth service, Amazon Care, while also working on providing home diagnostics for patients. With technological innovation going hand-in-hand with the latest developments in pharma, the news should not be surprising – particularly as Amazon and the wider tech sector look to diversify into other areas of growth. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the partnership in a statement:

“Amazon is contributing scientific and machine learning expertise to a partnership with Fred Hutch to explore the development of a personalized treatment for certain forms of cancer […] It’s very early, but Fred Hutch recently received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase I clinical trial, and it’s unclear whether it will be successful. This will be a long, multi-year process — should it progress, we would be open to working with other organizations in health care and life sciences that might also be interested in similar efforts.”

Merck and Orion to partner for prostate cancer therapeutics

13 July 2022

Pharma giant Merck has announced a global development and commercialization collaboration with Orion Corporation, aiming to accelerate progress for Orion’s lead candidate product, ODM-208. The product is currently in Phase II studies for the treatment of patients with metastatic, castration resistant prostate cancer. ODM-208, along with other investigational candidates developed by Orion, is aimed at cytochrome P450 11A1 – a critical enzyme for the production of steroid hormones. As part of the deal, Merck will contribute an upfront payment of 290 million in exchange for co-developing and co-commercializing ODM-208. Both parties also reserve the option to convert the partnership to a global exclusive license for Merck in the future, which would come with the usual milestone-associated and royalty payments to the benefit of Orion. Timo Lappalainen, president and CEO of Orion, highlighted that the deal will contribute to the acceleration of the company’s pipeline beyond just ODM-208:

“We are delighted to enter this collaboration with Merck, which is committed to extend and improve the lives of patients with cancer and has a strong commercial presence globally […] This agreement positions Orion to harness the potential of ODM-208 for the good of patients while continuing to invest in our other programs without compromising our financial targets.”

Anumana and Novartis to advance AI diagnostics for heart disease

13 July 2022

Anumana, an AI-driven health tech has made public plans to partner with Novartis for the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered software in the pursuit of improving heart disease diagnostics. The partnership will see the development of electrocardiogram (ECG) AI models that can detect heart conditions that may have so far not been noticed, resulting in immediate life-saving benefit. The conditions searched for include a weak heart pump, left ventricular dysfunction, and other diseases which may lead to heart failure while being challenging to diagnose by humans before the onset of symptoms. Anumana is reinforced by expert partners from the Mayo Clinic, who will further assist the development of its AI-driven diagnostics software – with Anumana possessing multiple licenses for breakthrough technology developed by the Mayo Clinic Cardiology team. Paul Friedman from Mayo Clinic, who also sits on the Board of Advisors for Anumana, highlighted the life-saving potential of the collaboration:

“Many heart diseases develop for years before signs and symptoms appear, but the first event may be life threatening […] AI enables us to uncover hidden signals our bodies transmit to detect otherwise occult heart diseases, potentially years before symptoms appear. This collaboration has the potential to transform the use of a ubiquitous inexpensive test, the ECG, with the aim of democratizing disease detection and helping medical care teams to proactively manage heart disease ahead of time and prevent some clinical events from ever happening.”

Bioventus snaps up CartiHeal

12 July 2022

Bioventus, one of the global leaders in the space of active healing, has announced the completion of its acquisition of CartiHeal. The acquisition will expand Bioventus’ presence in the sports injury and joint reconstruction fields, further establishing them as an industrial leader with the addition of CartiHeal’s Agili-C implant. The implant is currently in a premarket approval stage with the FDA, having already received a breakthrough device designation. This is due to its demonstrable superiority to debridement and microfracture – the current standard of care for treating joint injuries. Ken Reali, Bioventus’ Chief Executive Officer, expressed the value of adding CartiHeal to the Bioventus portfolio:

“CartiHeal represents an important breakthrough for the treatment of osteoarthritis and osteochondral defects of the knee with significant medium- and long-term potential as evidenced by the robust data generated from its pivotal clinical trial showing superiority to current treatments. We believe that the addition of CartiHeal will complement our joint preservation technologies and specifically our HA business, further supporting our short- and mid-term growth drivers and helping us to deliver on our goal of sustained double-digit revenue growth. We welcome the CartiHeal team to Bioventus and look forward to bringing this life-improving technology to as many patients as possible”

Solvias to acquire Cergentis

12 July 2022

Solvias, a global leader in pharmaceutical testing and manufacturing, has announced its acquisition of Cergentis. The move is expected to solidify Solvias’ capabilities regarding novel treatment modalities, particularly cell & gene therapy as well as biologics in general. As cell & gene therapy experiences massive rates of growth in the coming years, Solvias aims to hone in to the field with its provision of efficient, agile solutions to enable rapid decision-making and R&D efforts, saving costs and time. The acquisition also continues Solvias’ stated goal of global expansion, marking its second acquisition of a company since its partnership with Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners in 2020. Archie Cullen, Chief Executive Officer of Solvias, has highlighted that the company aims to continue this policy to reinforce its continued growth: 

“We are relentlessly focused on ensuring the safety of new therapies in development. Cergentis is a cornerstone acquisition that expands our solutions supporting complex and emerging therapies. We will continue to pursue strategic acquisitions that add specialized capabilities to our offering and advance our goal of being a forerunner in our industry.”