Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week with AstraZeneca, which spun off six drugs to form Viela Bio. Viela has lined its pockets with $250 million in venture funding to take the assets forward. DBV Technologies stepped up plans for a phase 3 milk allergy trial after posting messy midphase data. Oxford Biotherapeutics named an ex-Celgene staffer as its CMO. Summit Therapeutics posted a look at another slice of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy data. AstraZeneca teamed up with Pelago Bioscience. And more.—Nick Taylor
1. AstraZeneca spinout bags $250M, pipeline headed by late-phase autoimmune drug
AstraZeneca has carved off six inflammation and autoimmune assets to create a new biotech, Viela Bio. The startup put together a $250 million series A round and a management team from its parent company to guide the mix of clinical and preclinical programs forward.
2. DBV climbs as messy milk allergy data open door to phase 3
DBV Technologies has posted results from a midphase trial of its milk allergy candidate Viaskin Milk. The study detected a statistically significant desensitization to milk among a subgroup of participants, although the overall data set leaves questions unanswered as DBV prepares to discuss the next steps with regulators.
3. Oxford BioTherapeutics raids Celgene for CMO as I-O trial plan takes shape
Oxford BioTherapeutics has lured Abderrahim Fandi, M.D., Ph.D., away from Celgene to serve as its CMO. The appointment puts Fandi in charge of developing OBT’s immuno-oncology candidates.
4. Summit’s DMD drug cuts muscle inflammation in POC trial
Summit Therapeutics has posted further data from the ongoing phase 2 trial of ezutromid. The latest analysis links the utrophin modulator to a statistically significant decline in muscle inflammation in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
5. AstraZeneca taps Pelago for drug-protein interaction assay
AstraZeneca has teamed up with Pelago Bioscience to examine how drug candidates interact with protein targets. The collaboration will apply Pelago’s cellular assay technology to the screening and safety assessment of assets in AstraZeneca’s preclinical pipeline.