A roundup of bio/pharmaceutical partnering news from Astellas/Evopoint Biosciences, Eli Lilly and Company/Camurus, Novo Nordisk/Deep Apple Therapeutics and Eli Lilly and Company/Juneva. 

* Astellas, Evopoint Biosciences in $1.54-Bn ADC Pact 
* Lilly, Camurus in $870-M Drug-Delivery Pact 
* Novo Nordisk, Deep Apple Therapeutics in $812-M Cardiometabolic Disease Drug Pact  
* Lilly, Juneva in Muscle Health Drug Pact 

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Astellas, Evopoint Biosciences in $1.54-Bn ADC Pact 
Astellas Pharma has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Evopoint Biosciences, a Suzhou, China-based bio/pharmaceutical company, for Evopoint’s XNW27011, an investigational clinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting cancers, in a deal worth up to $1.54 billion ($130 million upfront and $1.41 billion in milestone payments). The agreement grants Astellas a worldwide (excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) exclusive license to develop and commercialize XNW27011.  

XNW27011 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II study in China in patients with CLDN18.2-expressing solid tumors, including gastric cancer, gastroesophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer.  

Under the agreement, Evopoint will receive a $130-million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $70-million near-term payments, and additional milestone payments associated with development, regulatory, and commercialization milestones totaling up to $1.34 billion, as well as royalties on net sales of XNW27011, if approved. 

Source: Evopoint Biosciences 

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Lilly, Camurus in $870 M Drug-Delivery Pact 
Eli Lilly and Company has entered a collaboration and license agreement with Camurus, a Lund, Sweden-based bio/pharmaceutical company, granting Lilly exclusive, worldwide rights to use Camurus’ FluidCrystal drug-delivery technology for the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of Lilly’s long-acting incretin products for cardiometabolic health, in in a deal worth up to $870 million ($290 million upfront and $580 million in milestone payments).  

Camurus’ proprietary FluidCrystal technology is designed to deliver therapeutic levels of drug substance over extended periods – from days to months – with a single injection using a prefilled syringe or autoinjector pen. Upon contact with bodily fluids in the tissue, the lipid solution transforms into a liquid crystalline gel that encapsulates the active ingredient. As the liquid crystalline matrix gradually degrades in the tissue, the drug is slowly released. 

The agreement comprises up to four Lilly proprietary drug compounds. In return for granting Lilly the license to use the FluidCrystal technology for the selected incretin drug compounds, Camurus is eligible to receive up to $290 million in upfront, development, and regulatory milestone payments as well as $580 million in sales-based milestone payments and tiered mid-single digit royalties on global net product sales. 

Source: Camurus  

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Novo Nordisk, Deep Apple Therapeutics in $812-M Cardiometabolic Disease Drug Pact 
Novo Nordisk and Deep Apple Therapeutics, a South San Francisco-based company specializing in small-molecule drug discovery, have entered a research collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement to discover, develop, and commercialize oral small molecule therapeutics directed at a non-incretin G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) target for cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, in a deal worth up to $812 million. 

Under the agreement, Deep Apple will discover and optimize compounds using its proprietary drug-discovery platform, which combines machine-learning-powered virtual screening with structural biology enabled by cryo-electron microscopy for lead generation and optimization. 

Novo Nordisk will receive exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the resulting compounds and products in all indications. Both companies will collaborate on the research plan, with program handoff to Novo Nordisk occurring immediately prior to the start of investigational new drug application-enabling studies. 

Deep Apple is eligible to receive an upfront payment, research costs, and milestone payments from Novo Nordisk. In total, Deep Apple will be eligible to receive up to $812 million in payments, as well as potential royalties on sales of any products that emerge from the collaboration. 

Source: Deep Apple Therapeutics 

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Lilly, Juneva in Muscle Health Drug Pact 
Eli Lilly and Company and Juvena Therapeutics, a Redwood City, California-based clinical-stage bio/pharmaceutical company, have entered a global licensing and multi-target research collaboration to discover, develop, and commercialize drug candidates that improve muscle health and body composition. 

As part of the collaboration, Juvena will uses JuvNET, its proprietary AI-enabled screening platform for mapping the therapeutic potential of stem cell-secreted proteins. The platform combines a compounding database mapping secreted proteins to specific disease phenotypes, in silico and in vitro human cell screening, pharmacology, and protein engineering capabilities.  

The collaboration will identify muscle-targeting drug candidates from Juvena’s proprietary library of human stem-cell secreted proteins for improved body composition and muscle health. 

Under the agreement, Juvena will receive an upfront payment, an equity investment, and potential development and commercialization milestone payments. Juvena will grant Lilly an exclusive license to identified lead candidates and Lilly will be responsible for further research, development, and commercialization. 

Source: Juneva Therapeutics