Entries by Thomas Gabrielczyk

Life-sciences hub Saxony: a driver of innovation for cell and gene therapy

Saxony has established itself as a dynamic life-sciences hub and provides an attractive environment for investors and start-ups The ‘SaxoCell’ network and CMI major research centre are furthering innovations in cell and gene therapy Interdisciplinary co-operation offers huge growth opportunities for applications such as point-of-care diagnostics Leipzig as host of BIO-Europe 2022

mRNA for Africa

Moderna will build its first mRNA production facility in Kenya, investing up to US$500m. 

Chinese Huadong snaps up Heidelberg Pharma.

ADC manufacturer Heidelberg Pharma AG has negotiated a US$931m licensing and investment deal with China’s Huadong Medicine Co, Ltd.

The German inventor of alpha-amanitin antibody conjugates (ATACs) will receive an upfront payment of US$20m and milestone payments of up to US$449m related to its phase 1 multiple myeloma candidate HDP-101 and preclinical prostate cancer ATAC HDP-103, as well as royalties on sales of an undisclosed amount. However, the development partnership also covers two further candidates in early preclinical development as well as options on candidates yet to be generated, which are linked to milestone payments of a further USD 461 million. After a long period of waiting, Heidelberg Pharma has thus achieved a breakthrough in the partnering of Amanitin-coupled antibody technology.

In addition to in-licensing the pipeline, Huadong is taking a 35% or €105 million stake in Heidelberg Pharma, which is funded by dievini Holdung. Huadong will enroll Asian patients in global clinical trials to accelerate product development.