Today, a brief rundown of news involving AstraZeneca and Third Harmonic Bio, as well as updates from UCB, UroGen Pharma and Insmed that you may have missed.
AstraZeneca on Friday formed a new collaboration with Shijiazhuang City, China-based CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, this time to use the firm’s AI technology to discover oral drugs for immunological diseases and other unspecified chronic conditions. CSPC will get $110 million in upfront cash and is eligible to receive up to $5.2 billion in additional development and sales milestones. The alliance builds on a 2024 deal that handed AstraZeneca an oral, lipid-lowering therapy, and deepens the British drugmaker's investment in China. In March, the company committed $2.5 billion to a research and development center in Beijing and formed collaborations with three China-based biotechs. — Ben Fidler
Belgian drugmaker UCB said on Thursday that it plans to build a new biologics manufacturing plant in the U.S. UCB is currently running a "feasibility study" to determine the ideal U.S. location for the coming facility, but said in a statement that, once operational, it should create about 300 jobs in biologics manufacturing and have an economic impact of around $5 billion. The company currently employs close to 2,000 workers in the U.S. — Ben Fidler
Stockholders of Third Harmonic Bio have voted in support of a liquidation plan expected to see them recoup anywhere from $5.30 to $5.44 for each share they own. The company also said Thursday that it’s beginning an auction for an experimental drug for chronic hives that’s ready for Phase 2 testing. Proceeds from that auction, as well as sales of any other remaining assets, could boost stockholder payouts beyond current estimates. Third Harmonic raised $185 million in a 2022 initial public offering, but its share price plummeted shortly afterwards following a clinical setback. — Ben Fidler
Insmed has raised $750 million in a public stock offering, quickly cashing in on positive Phase 2 study results that pushed its market value past $16 billion. The company on Wednesday sold 7,812,500 shares of its common stock at $96 apiece, raising more than it initially projected. Insmed shares climbed by a third this week after mid-stage results indicated its experimental drug could be superior to an inhalable pulmonary arterial hypertension medicine that’s sold by United Therapeutics and could reach almost $2 billion in sales this year. The company expects to start a pair of Phase 3 trials later this year and early next. — Ben Fidler
The Food and Drug Administration bypassed the advice of one of its expert panels in approving a drug Urogen Pharma has been developing for a form of bladder cancer. The therapy, a formulation of the chemotherapy mitomycin, was cleared on Thursday and will be sold as Zusduri for a recurrent type of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. FDA advisers last month determined by a slim, 5-4 margin, that the drug’s benefits didn’t outweigh the risks of treatment. UroGen shares surged more than 60% since the announcement. — Ben Fidler
