Welcome to Day 2 of the annual J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Here's your need to know, as Sanofi is at it again with a second deal in as many days, Novartis talks about the positives of the pandemic on its processes while Boehringer turns to the dark side.
Want more? Catch the latest news from Fierce Biotech and follow Fierce Pharma's coverage here.
And check out tomorrow's Day 3 roundup covering the on-the-ground skinny from Wednesday's action.
Tuesday 3:00 p.m. ET
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues apace, Steris has moved to snap up Cantel Medical with a $4.6 billion deal for its portfolio of infection prevention products aimed at safeguarding endoscopy and dental procedures. Calling the value opportunity “compelling, both today and in a post-COVID world,” Cantel Chairman Charles Diker said the combined company would be able to offer a large range of personal protective equipment and decontamination hardware. The cash and stock transaction includes about $3.6 billion in total equity plus $1 billion for Cantel’s net debt and convertible notes. Story
Tuesday 1:00 p.m. ET
Teladoc Health will launch a pilot demonstration of Dexcom’s CGM at no cost to its members with Type 2 diabetes—a segment Dexcom sees as a huge growth opportunity.
“I'm frequently told by our team that when this market goes, it is going to explode—it's not going to be small, and it's not going to be slow,” Dexcom Chairman, President and CEO Kevin Sayer said during the company’s presentation. “There's often a perception that Type 2 patients don't want the same data a Type 1 patient wants. But if you look at our market research, absolutely the same percentage of patients wants to get into CGM and wants to use it.” Story
Tuesday 11:40 a.m. ET
Biogen and Apple announced a new virtual research study to see if iPhones and smartwatches can help track declines in cognitive health—a project that CEO Michel Vounatsos described as “only a first step” in the company’s ongoing digital transformation. The digital biomarker study will enroll adults young and old, and use the devices to track subtle changes in movements and interactions that, over time, may add up to the earliest signs of neurodegenerative disorders and impairment. Story
Tuesday 10:30 a.m. ET
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference couldn’t keep going the way it was. Once an investor conference within the confines of the Westin St. Francis, J.P. Morgan week has swelled to include side conferences, partnering discussions, networking events and cocktail receptions. Lots of executives, and journalists, are happy not be in San Francisco this week. But the future of JPM will likely need a hybridised approach or physical and virtual meetings. Story.
Tuesday 7:00 a.m. ET
Verve Therapeutics debuted nearly two years ago with $58.5 million and a goal to bring one-and-done gene-editing treatments to heart disease. Now, the company is marching toward the clinic with a treatment for a genetic form of high cholesterol. The biotech hopes that a one-time gene-editing injection could eliminate the hurdles facing cholesterol-lowering statins and other medicines. And though approval and commercialization are still far out, Verve is already learning how it might roll out its treatments. Story.
Tuesday 6:00 a.m. ET
Novartis’ chief medical officer, John Tsai, M.D., said that the pandemic has, in terms of its corporate and research processes, actually been a blessing in disguise: “When that switch flipped in March [during the first wave of the pandemic] we found that it actually unlocked a lot of innovation, and it was, in fact, driving a lot motivation because people had the flexibility and the freedom to work form anywhere the wanted,” he told Fierce Biotech. Interview
Tuesday 4:30 a.m. ET
Boehringer Ingelheim has teamed up with Enara Bio to access “dark antigens” discovered by Enara. The deal gives the German pharma an option to license these antigens in up to three tumor types in the lung and gastrointestinal cancer spaces. In return, Boehringer is paying an upfront fee of undisclosed size and committing to preclinical milestones and licensing fees for each tumor type. Enara could pocket up to €876 million ($1.1 billion) in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus royalties on sales. Story
Tuesday 4:00 a.m. ET
Sanofi is paying Biond Biologics $125 million upfront for global rights to a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor. The agreement gives Sanofi a near-clinical anti-ILT2 monoclonal antibody designed to turn the innate and adaptive immune systems against tumors. The deal, which features more than $1 billion in potential milestones, gives Sanofi exclusive global rights to BND-22. Story