Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week with the stories of two deals, one that is nearly complete and another that may rumble on for a while before coming to a conclusion. The ongoing, uncertain story involves Novo Nordisk. Facing pressures on its diabetes business, the Danish drugmaker approached Ablynx with a buyout bid. Ablynx rebuffed Novo twice. On the second occasion, a €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) offer was on the table. Takeda encountered less resistance with its takeover: The Japanese pharma won the support of TiGenix’s board for its €520 million bid for the stem cell therapy specialist, although unexpected clinical and regulatory events could still derail the takeover. BioNTech struck a T cell receptor deal with Scancell. Sanofi gave up regional rights to Alnylam’s pioneering RNAi drug patisiran. Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a deal with Adimab. And more.—Nick Taylor
1. Novo makes €2.6B Ablynx buyout bid public after being rebuffed
Novo Nordisk has gone public with its €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) bid to acquire Ablynx. The Danish company had two takeover offers rejected by Ablynx last month, prompting it to go public with its intentions to dial up the pressure on its target.
2. Takeda strikes €520M deal to buy cell therapy firm TiGenix
Takeda has put together a €520 million ($627 million) all-cash deal to acquire TiGenix. The takeover will give Takeda full control of Cx601, a stem cell therapy that is closing in on a European approval in Crohn’s disease.
3. After $270M round, BioNTech pens TCR pact with Scancell
BioNTech has followed up on its $270 million megaround by striking a deal with Scancell. The alliance gives BioNTech the chance to work with Scancell to discover and characterize T cell receptors (TCRs) and an option to form a license agreement covering the resulting therapeutics.
4. Alnylam retools Sanofi deal to take full control of patisiran
Alnylam has stepped up its commitment to pioneering RNAi drug patisiran by retooling its agreement with Sanofi. The revised deal returns full global control of the ATTR amyloidosis drug to Alnylam and sees Sanofi obtain worldwide rights to hemophilia candidate fitusiran.
5. Boehringer taps Adimab for antibody discovery project
Boehringer Ingelheim has enlisted the help of Adimab for a drug discovery project. The agreement tasks Adimab with turning its yeast-based antibody discovery platform against multiple targets picked out by Boehringer.