Today, a brief rundown of news from Replimune and MeiraGTx, as well as updates from Revolution Medicines and Biogen that you may have missed.
Replimune is turning to layoffs following its second drug rejection since last year. According to a WARN notice, the company will reduce its headcount by 63 employees through the month of April. The cuts were telegraphed last Friday, after the Food and Drug Administration again turned back Replimmune’s melanoma therapy RP1 and claimed the company hasn’t resolved outstanding issues with the underlying data. In a statement at the time, Replimune said it doesn’t have the cash to continue developing RP1 without an accelerated approval and had “no choice” but to eliminate jobs. The case is among those drawing scrutiny from critics who believe the FDA isn’t being flexible enough in certain drug reviews. — Delilah Alvarado
MeiraGTx is reacquiring rights to a gene therapy it once sold to Johnson & Johnson. In a deal announced Thursday, the biotechnology company said it’s reached an agreement with J&J to regain ownership of a treatment in development for a severe form of retinitis pigmentosa and plans to “immediately” pursue regulatory approvals. MeiraGTx and J&J worked together on the the treatment, bota-vec, for several years before the former sold its remaining stake to the latter in 2023. Bota-vec later missed the main goal of a Phase 3 trial, but MeiraGTx has been optimistic about a possible clearance nonetheless, pointing to other benefits observed in testing. The biotech on Thursday also raised $100 million in an equity offering.— Delilah Alvarado
Revolution Medicines on Wednesday raised $2 billion in a public stock offering, quickly cashing in on cancer data that added several billions to its market value. Earlier this week, Revolution reported that its drug, daraxonrasib, helped pancreatic cancer patients who received it in a Phase 3 trial live nearly twice as long as those who got standard chemotherapy. The findings position Revolution to potentially obtain a speedy approval and tap into a revenue opportunity multiple Wall Street analysts believe to exceed $10 billion. The company sold $1.5 billion in stock and $500 million in notes in the offering — double the amount it initially projected. — Ben Fidler
Biogen hiked its offer for Apellis Pharmaceuticals multiple times before the two companies agreed to terms on a $5.6 billion acquisition last month. According to a regulatory filing, Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher first discussed a potential deal with senior Apellis executives in late 2024. Those talks led to an initial offer last June of $26 per share, plus an additional $5 per share via a “contingent value right” payout. Apellis’ board said that offer undervalued the company, but talks continued over nearly 10 months afterwards. Biogen made a handful of additional bids before Apellis accepted a proposal worth $41 per share and including a $4-per-share CVR. Along the way, several other potential counterparties passed on a deal, the filing showed. — Ben Fidler
