Closed and Collaborative: Mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships in August 2024

As we head further into H2, a final look back to the summer’s industry mergers and acquisitions, as well as partnerships, provides plenty of news to glean. In August’s round-up column, pharmaphorum provides an overview of what’s been happening when it comes to life sciences companies coming together.

In this edition of Closed and Collaborative, the partnership between drug discovery specialist Cresset and Enamine, a chemical and biological contract research company, intends to unlock potential treatment options for previously untreatable disease-causing proteins. Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is an emerging therapeutic strategy that harnesses a cell's own protein degradation machinery, and Enamine has synthesised a library of 5,400 TPD-related linkers and designed a further 13,000 linker molecules available through quick synthesis. This library has been deployed in Cresset’s Spark – a bioisostere replacement tool used for hit and lead optimisation.

Another partnership confirmed in August was that between Japan-based Kyowa Kirin International and NewBridge Pharmaceuticals. The agreement permits NewBridge to act as distributor for Kyowa Kirin International’s rare disease portfolio in four countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The partnership with NewBridge will bring access to medicines within a population of 100 million across Algeria, Iraq, Libya and Jordan, supporting Kyowa Kirin’s International’s commitment to geographical expansion to meet the needs of more patients across the international region.

An additional partnership of potential was that between diagnostic service providers Unilabs and C2N Diagnostics. With one in five women and one in 10 men expected to develop Alzheimer’s, the partnership marks a major milestone in brain health diagnostics. The multi-year partnership agreement will increase access to C2N’s Precivity portfolio of blood tests in Europe, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Both companies believe the partnership will transform global Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis for patients with cognitive concerns or at high risk of future AD or AD-related dementias.

Also announced in August was a strategic partnership between Health2Sync and Sanofi, which is extending its footprints in South Korea, along with its launch of SoloSmart, an integrated digital solution developed by Sanofi to help facilitate personalised care for patients with diabetes. The Health2Sync app, meanwhile, has 1.3 million registered users worldwide, and the company is looking forward to creating a real-time monitoring ecosystem in diabetes management by leveraging various devices, including continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), blood glucose meters (BGM), exercise and sleep trackers, and smartwatches such as Fitbit.

Sanofi also launched a partnership with the charity Asthma + Lung UK in August, as part of endeavours to empower healthcare professionals to improve health outcomes for people with COPD. Lung disease has a substantial impact on NHS expenditure, costing the NHS around £9.6bn each year – 3.4% of total NHS budget.

Another partnership in August took place between medication management and data-intelligence solution provider Intelliguard and pharma solutions organisation Cencora, which will elevate compatibility between RFID-tagged medication and RFID-based medication management systems, and thereby simplify workflows and increase focus on patient safety across healthcare facilities. Cencora is ranked #10 on the Fortune 500 and #24 on the Global Fortune 500 with more than $250 billion in annual revenue.

Indeed, partnerships were the flavour of the month in August, with healthcare technology company SEQSTER and data-driven health-consumer engagement and activation platform PatientsLikeMe (PLM) also announcing a strategic partnership to unlock the power of patient data and engagement, so as to enhance clinical outcomes and streamline clinical research for life sciences and healthcare partners. SEQSTER will serve as PLM's Electronic Health Record (EHR) provider to enable rapid and accurate patient screening for clinical trial opportunities and to improve the patient onboarding experience to reduce dropout rates.

In terms of acquisitions, specialist pharmaceutical services provider Clinigen acquired Kinesys Consulting, a regulatory affairs consultancy, in a move that will permit the company to expand its capabilities to help clients navigate the complexities of pharmaceutical development and commercialisation, integrating into Clinigen’s Lifecycle Services division. The acquisition is the latest milestone in a strategic growth journey for the company, following previously acquiring Ascenian Consulting and Drug Safety Navigator. Clinigen has more than 1,000 employees across five continents in 15 countries and provides access in more than 130 countries every year.

Also in August, Calibre Scientific acquired Barcelona-based Acefesa, a provider of laboratory consumables and equipment, including for pharma and biotech. Acefesa is Calibre Scientific’s fifth acquisition in Spain, further expanding its presence and product portfolio across the Iberian Peninsula and broadening its portfolio with a range of complementary products focused in areas such as micro- and ultra-filtration, microbiology, molecular biology, and blotting and environment. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Calibre Scientific’s global reach extends to over 175 countries.

And in this issue of the round-up, an important collaboration to be announced was that between data-first generative AI drug creation company Absci and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The collaboration will aim to discover and develop novel therapeutics using generative AI for up to six programmes, and adds to Absci’s roster of R&D previous collaborations, designed to develop novel biologics for debilitating diseases, including with AstraZeneca, Almirall, MSD, and NVIDIA.

Lastly, Bayer and biotech NextRNA are also embarking on a collaboration, to jointly advance two oncology programmes in high unmet need indications. The first is an lncRNA-targeting small molecule programme currently in early preclinical development at NextRNA. For the second programme, NextRNA will prosecute lncRNA targets that its platform has already identified, and Bayer will have the option to select one target for joint development. Under the terms of the agreement, NextRNA will receive up to $547 million for both programmes, including upfront and near-term milestone payments, research funding, and development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales.