Global Briefs: Eisai, Bayer, Lilly & More
A roundup of news from the large and mid-sized bio/pharmaceutical companies featuring Eisai, Bayer, Biogen, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co, Moderna and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Highlights below.
For the latest news roundup on small and Emerging Pharma companies, see Biotech Briefs.
Mfg News
* Eisai Investing $63 M to Add Packaging, Cold-Chain Capabilities at UK site
M&A News
* Bayer Completes $2.45-Bn Acquisition of Perfuse Therapeutics
* Biogen To Acquire RayThera in $1-Bn Deal
* Lilly Acquires 4E Therapeutics for Non-Opioid Pain Drug
Partnering News
* Merck & Co., Protillion in $510-M AI Protein Drug-Discovery Pact
* Jazz Pharmaceuticals, AbCellera in T-Cell Multi-Specific Antibody Drug Pact
General
* FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Moderna’s mRNA Seasonal Flu Vaccine
* Bayer Consumer Health Opens Innovation Center in China
Mfg News
Eisai Investing $63 M to Add Packaging, Cold-Chain Capabilities at UK site
Eisai has announced a £48 million ($63 million) investment at its manufacturing site in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK, to establish supply-chain and packaging capabilities for current and future medicines that require cold-chain management, including Leqembi (lecanemab), the company’s drug for treating early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
The overall investment will help expand Eisai’s manufacturing capabilities at the site beyond oral solid dose operations to support the packaging and supply of temperature-controlled medicines for injection and infusion. Additionally, Eisai says the investment will enable the transition from reliance on external contract manufacturers to an in-house packaging model.
The investment includes facilities capable of handling temperature-controlled products, including the expansion of goods receipt and dispatch functions, construction of ambient and cold-chain warehouses, and installation of packaging buildings and packaging lines. The project is being implemented in multiple phases, with a total investment from Eisai of approximately £48 million ($63 million). The project is also supported by the UK’s Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, a capital grants scheme designed to strengthen life sciences manufacturing capabilities in the UK.
Source: Eisai
M&A News
Bayer Completes $2.45-Bn Acquisition of Perfuse Therapeutics
Bayer has completed its acquisition of Perfuse Therapeutics, a South San Francisco, California-based bio/pharmaceutical company focused on ocular diseases, in a $2.45-billion deal, including $300 million upfront.
With the acquisition, Bayer holds the full rights for PER-001, a small-molecule endothelin receptor antagonist currently in Phase II clinical development for treating glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Perfuse Therapeutics has a proprietary sustained-release drug delivery platform, and the PER-001 intravitreal implant is administered into the vitreous cavity of the eye using a single-use, 25-gauge applicator designed to provide sustained release of the drug.
Under the agreement, the transaction carries a total potential value of up to $2.45 billion, comprising a $300-million upfront payment and additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments based on success criteria.
Source: Bayer
Biogen To Acquire RayThera in $1-Bn Deal
Biogen has agreed to acquire RayThera, a San Diego, California-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company developing small-molecule therapies in immunology, in a deal worth up to $1 billion, consisting of an undisclosed upfront payment and predominantly, payments contingent on the achievement of future clinical and regulatory milestones.
RayThera’s portfolio includes multiple anti-inflammatory assets that could potentially treat immune-mediated conditions across a range of indications. Its lead candidate is expected to enter Phase I development early in the third quarter of 2026.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of necessary regulatory approvals and is currently anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2026. With the acquisition, once closed, Biogen will lead development, manufacturing and global commercialization of these assets.
Source: Biogen
Lilly Acquires 4E Therapeutics for Non-Opioid Pain Drug
Eli Lilly and Company has acquired 4E Therapeutics, an Austin, Texas-based neuroscience company developing non-opioid therapeutics to treat pain.
4E is developing a pipeline of orally available MNK inhibitors designed to treat chronic pain by targeting the MNK-eIF4E signaling pathway in peripheral sensory neurons. The company’s lead compound, 4ET1103, is a MNK inhibitor in Phase I development.
Source: 4E Therapeutics
Partnering News
Merck & Co., Protillion in $510-M AI Protein Drug-Discovery Pact
Merck & Co. and Protillion Biosciences, a Carlsbad, California-based AI drug-design company, have entered a multi-target discovery collaboration and license agreement, worth up to $510 million.
Protillion’s proprietary Prot-MaP technology is an AI-enabled data-generation platform used to generate training sets in protein drug design. It is used in the quantitative analysis of protein libraries with high throughput to identify biologics with various therapeutic profiles, such as pH-dependent sweeping and multi-target specificity, which may be difficult to achieve with traditional methods, according to the company.
Under the agreement, Protillion will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive research, development, and commercial milestone payments of up to $510 million for the successful development of multiple therapies.
Source: Protillion Biosciences
Jazz Pharmaceuticals, AbCellera in T-Cell Multi-Specific Antibody Drug Pact
Jazz Pharmaceuticals and AbCellera, a Vancouver-based clinical stage bio/pharmaceutical company, have announced a preclinical research collaboration, option, and license agreement to discover and develop T-cell engaging (TCE) multi-specific antibodies.
The collaboration will apply AbCellera’s antibody discovery platform to deliver optimized development candidates for multiple gastrointestinal cancers and other solid tumors.
Under the agreement, AbCellera will perform discovery and early-stage research activities for two initial programs with a commitment to start a third discovery program within 12 months. Jazz is granted an option in connection with each research program and, following exercise of its option and payment of an option fee, will have the exclusive, worldwide right to develop and commercialize each program. In addition, Jazz and AbCellera may mutually agree to initiate up to two additional programs and to have AbCellera conduct certain activities for investigational new drug-enabling studies and manufacture clinical supply for any program under the collaboration.
Under the agreement, AbCellera will receive $56 million in total upfront payments for the first two research programs plus an additional $28 million upon initiation of a third program. Should Jazz exercise its option for development, AbCellera is eligible to receive up to $792 million per program,
Source: Jazz Pharmaceuticals
General
FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Moderna’s mRNA Seasonal Flu Vaccine
Moderna reports that the US Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) has voted in favor of recommending mRNA-1010, Moderna’s investigational mRNA seasonal influenza vaccine, in adults 50 through 64 years of age and in adults 65 years of age and older. The full FDA will now consider the recommendations of VRBPAC, which are non-binding, as part of FDA’s ongoing review of Moderna’s biologics license application for mRNA-1010 with a FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date of August 5, 2026. Regulatory submissions in additional countries are planned during 2026.
The company is applying its mRNA technology in vaccines and therapeutics across three franchises: infectious disease vaccines, individualized neoantigen therapies, and rare-disease therapeutics. In its infectious disease vaccine portfolio, the company has four approved products and is anticipating the potential launch of up to three new products in 2027 and 2028, including seasonal flu, flu plus COVID combination, and norovirus vaccines. In addition, the company says it expects clinical milestones this year (2026), including data readouts for intismeran autogene, an investigational, individualized neoantigen therapy for certain cancers, in which the company is partnered with Merck & Co., and for a therapeutic for treating propionic acidemia, a rare metabolic disease, which could support the possible launch of its first oncology and rare-disease products.
Separately, as part of leadership changes, the company reported that Stephen Hoge, M.D., President of Moderna, will assume oversight of operational and cross-functional leadership across research and development, manufacturing, and commercial functions across the company’s three franchises. In addition, Ester Banque, currently Executive Vice President and President, US Operations at the animal-health company, Zoetis, has been appointed as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to Zoetis, Banque served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Bristol Myers Squibb’s US hematology & cell therapy business. Before joining Bristol Myers Squibb, Banque spent 25 years at Novartis, where she held leadership roles of increasing responsibility across multiple therapeutic areas and geographies.
Source: Moderna (FDA advisory committee) and Moderna (leadership appointments)
Bayer Consumer Health Opens Innovation Center in China
Bayer Consumer Health has inaugurated its second China Center of Innovation and Partnership. The new hub, established in collaboration with China-basedJewim Pharmaceutical and the Shandong Institute for Food and Drug Control, will focus on co-developing self-care solutions in skin health and digestive health.
Source: Bayer
