Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week in France, where Inventiva raised €48 million ($51 million) in an IPO to fund phase 2b trials of its lead asset in NASH and systemic sclerosis. UniQure detailed plans to start three clinical trial next year, including a pivotal study of its hemophilia B gene therapy. Kitov Pharmaceuticals disclosed details of the securities investigation it faces. Ferring Pharmaceuticals stuck a deal to use Foresee Pharmaceuticals’ delivery technology. Almac Discovery committed funding to an anticancer stem cell research project. And more. Nick Taylor
1. Inventiva completes €48M IPO to fund phase 2b NASH trial
Inventiva has raised €48 million ($51 million) through an IPO in Paris, France. The offering gives the French biotech, which lists AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim among its partners, the cash to take its lead candidate through phase 2b trials in NASH and systemic sclerosis.
2. UniQure details three-pronged gene therapy trial program
UniQure is plotting to initiate a three-pronged clinical trial program next year as key assets from its in-house pipeline and Bristol-Myers Squibb collaboration advance. The aim is to move hemophilia B gene therapy AMT-060 into a pivotal trial while working to advance a Huntingdon's disease asset and Bristol-Myers-partnered heart failure candidate into the clinic.
3. Kitov opens up about fraud allegations, resumes trading
Kitov Pharmaceuticals has provided its first substantial statement on the securities investigation it faces. Local media broke news of the probe into disclosures about its lead candidate earlier this week—prompting a stock trading halt—but Kitov initially said little about the allegations.
4. Ferring strikes pact to use Foresee controlled-release tech
Ferring Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal with Foresee Pharmaceuticals. The agreement will see Ferring fund development of a long-duration peptide drug based on Foresee’s delivery technology and potentially pick up the resulting asset if it meets expectations.
5. Almac Discovery, RCSI form anticancer stem cell R&D pact
Almac Discovery and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have teamed up to research the effect of ALM201 on cancer stem cells. Early preclinical data suggest ALM201 may render cancer stem cells susceptible to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, a mechanism of action that opens the door to use of the drug to prevent recurrence of tumors.