Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week with British CAR-T startup Autolus, which filed to raise $100 million in a Nasdaq IPO. Elsewhere in the U.K., Abcam dropped its pursuit of Horizon Discovery and investors in London fled Faron Pharma after its lead drug failed a late-stage trial. Promore Pharma struck a deal with PharmaResearch Products. Pluristem Therapeutics provided an update on its phase 2 readout. And more.—Nick Taylor
1. Autolus seeks $100M IPO to take next-gen CAR-Ts deep into the clinic
Autolus has filed to raise $100 million in a Nasdaq IPO. The British biotech wants the cash to bankroll clinical trials of a clutch of next-generation CAR-Ts designed to broaden the use of cell therapies while improving their safety and efficacy.
2. Abcam ends pursuit of £270M Horizon Discovery buyout
Abcam has ended its pursuit of Horizon Discovery one week after going public about its attempt to buy the gene editing specialist.
3. Faron Pharma flummoxed as Traumakine fails in ARDS
Shares in Finnish biotech Faron Pharma are in free fall this morning after a late-stage trial of its lead drug Traumakine for acute respiratory distress syndrome comprehensively failed.
4. Promore sells rights to PXL01 in spinal surgery to PharmaResearch
Promore Pharma has granted PharmaResearch Products the global license to commercialize PXL01 in the prevention of fibrosis after spinal surgery. The agreement sees PharmaResearch committing to fund development of the synthetic peptide in the indication and hand over milestones and royalties.
5. Pluristem sets June target for phase 2 cell therapy readout
Pluristem Therapeutics is planning to publish data from a phase 2 trial of its placenta-derived cell therapy PLX-PAD next month. The dataset on patients with intermittent claudication will become the biggest generated by Pluristem to date when it is finalized in the coming weeks.