EuroBiotech Report—Lilly-AC Immune, AstraZeneca, Circassia, Novo and Biofrontera

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week in Switzerland, where AC Immune demonstrated the depth of its pipeline by striking a significant deal for one of its lesser-known programs. The deal sees Eli Lilly place a big, backloaded bet on AC Immune’s preclinical tau program. In the U.K., a clutch of companies released mixed updates into a news cycle dominated by Brexit. AstraZeneca revealed that tremelimumab had failed another phase 3 trial, while Circassia, one of the Anglo-Swedish company’s partners, outlined plans to move its stock to London’s small-cap exchange. E-therapeutics landed a diabetes target discovery deal with Novo Nordisk. In Germany, an independent expert sided with Biofrontera in a dispute over its IPO. And more. — Nick Taylor
 
1. Lilly pays AC Immune $81M upfront for preclinical Alzheimer’s drug

Eli Lilly has paid CHF 80 million ($81 million) upfront for the worldwide rights to AC Immune’s tau aggregation inhibitors in Alzheimer’s disease. The deal gives Lilly ownership of a small molecule that has inhibited tau aggregation in preclinical models.

 
2. AstraZeneca’s tremelimumab fails another phase 3 cancer trial

AstraZeneca’s tremelimumab has come up short in another phase 3 trial. Having failed to improve outcomes in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the anti-CTLA4 antibody has now missed the primary endpoint in a phase 3 advanced head and neck cancer trial.
 
3. 4 years after mega IPO, Circassia set for small-cap exchange

Four years ago, Circassia looked to have ushered in a new era for biotech IPOs on the London Stock Exchange when it raised £200 million ($252 million) to finance development of anti-allergy drugs. Today, Circassia is set to limp away from the main London stock exchange to take up a spot on the AIM sub-market, having failed to live up to expectations as a company or as a harbinger of change. 
 
4. Novo taps e-therapeutics for diabetes target discovery drive

Novo Nordisk has enlisted e-therapeutics to support target discovery efforts at its recently opened research center in Oxford, U.K. The collaboration will see e-therapeutics apply its platform for finding synergistic target combinations to a “specific area” of Type 2 diabetes.
 
5. Biofrontera cleared of wrongdoing in Nasdaq IPO

An independent review has cleared Biofrontera of wrongdoing related to its U.S. IPO. Shareholders had accused Biofrontera of acting contrary to its duties when it priced and sold stock in the U.S.

And more articles of note>>