Plus deals involving Kissei/JWP, Shionogi/Cilcare, Takeda/Torrent, Genome & Co./Debiopharm, Kaken/J&J, CStone/Ewopharma, MediLink/BioNTech and more.

Johnson & Johnson, after several prior failed R&D attempts in AD, will pay Numab $1.25bn to acquire a subsidiary and its Phase II-ready bispecific antibody for key unmet needs in the disease.

CTMC CEO Jason Bock talked to Scrip about the venture between MD Anderson and National Resilience, which provides manufacturing, process development and regulatory support for small cell therapy developers’ preclinical and clinical proof-of-concept studies. Meanwhile, Verge Genomics initiated a Phase Ib study of its AI-discovered drug for ALS; EyePoint and Aviceda dosed patients in their Phase II DME trials; Parexel teamed up with a non-profit cancer research group in Japan; and BARDA selected PPD to run its Phase II platform trial for ARDS.

Plus deals involving Biocytogen, Neurocrine and Ona, Aeterna Zentaris/Ceapro, Teva/Biolojic Design, Pathos AI/Rain Oncology, Inhibitor Therapeutics/Johns Hopkins and more.