Amgen To Acquire Privately Held Teneobio For $900M Cash + Future Contingent Milestones

Acquisition Complements Amgen's Antibody Research Capabilities Across Therapeutic Areas

Acquisition Includes a Portfolio of Early-Stage Oncology Assets, Including a Phase 1 Bispecific Antibody for Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Teneobio today announced an agreement under which Amgen will acquire Teneobio, a privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new class of biologics called Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies. Under the terms of the agreement, Amgen will acquire all outstanding shares of Teneobio at closing in exchange for a $900 million upfront cash payment, as well as future contingent milestone payments to Teneobio equity holders potentially worth up to an additional $1.6 billion in cash.

The acquisition includes Teneobio's proprietary bispecific and multispecific antibody technologies, which will enable significant acceleration and efficiency in the discovery and development of new molecules that have the potential to treat a wide range of important diseases across Amgen's core therapeutic areas. These platforms complement Amgen's existing antibody capabilities with the addition of a heavy-chain only platform that allows a streamlined, sequence-based discovery approach for target binders, as well as Teneobio's novel T-cell engager platform, which expands on Amgen's existing leadership position in bispecific T-cell engagers by providing a differentiated, but complementary, approach to Amgen's current BiTE® platform.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amgen-acquire-privately-held-teneobio-201900788.html

Nordic Capital In Talks to Buy Health Tech Firm Inovalon

 

• Private equity firm Nordic Capital is in advanced talks on a potential acquisition of health-care technology company Inovalon Holdings Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

https://world-news-monitor.com/technology/2021/07/27/nordic-capital-in-talks-to-buy-health-tech-firm-inovalon/

Centene says COVID-19 costs could rise in coming quarters as Delta poses threat

 

Centene Corp on Tuesday became the latest U.S. health insurer to warn of higher COVID-19 costs in the coming quarters due to the impact of the Delta variant, which has become the dominant coronavirus strain globally.

The company's shares were down about 3% at $70.50 after Centene reported a jump in medical costs in the second quarter, as COVID-19 vaccinations led to a recovery in demand for elective medical care that had been postponed during the height of the pandemic.

Continued uncertainty caused by the emergence of coronavirus variants and new infection outbreaks in parts of the United States led rivals, such as UnitedHealth Group Inc and Anthem Inc, to be prudent about their 2021 growth forecasts.

Centene said its COVID-19 costs could reverse course from a decline in June, based on trends related to the Delta variant, which in recent weeks caused new COVID-19 cases to flare up in some parts of the country with low vaccination rates.

The insurer said demand for healthcare services was above normal levels during the second quarter at its Obamacare business, that sells health plans on online marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act, due to pent-up demand from previously postponed services.

"Although this is impacting our margins in the short term, we continue to view this environment as transitory, driven by the various dynamics of the pandemic," Chief Executive Officer Michael Neidorff said on a conference call.

Centene raised its 2021 revenue forecast to between $123.3 billion and $125.3 billion, from its previous outlook of $120.1 billion to $122.1 billion.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.25 per share in the quarter ended June 30. Analysts had expected $1.39 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Centene-says-COVID-19-costs-could-rise-in-coming-quarters-as-Delta-poses-threat--35955082/

Cytiva, Pall Corp. Invest $1.5B To Meet Growing Demand For Biotech

 Cytiva and Pall Corpor., part of the Danaher (DHR) Corp., said that they will expand manufacturing capacity and services across geographies for global life sciences customers.

The companies will invest about $1.5 billion over two years to meet growing demand for biotechnology solutions, Cytiva said in a statement.

Major investments are expanding manufacturing capacity for life sciences products at 13 Cytiva and Pall Corp. sites helping to meet customer demand.

The investment follows five strategic acquisitions made by the companies this year and is in addition to Cytiva's continuing capacity investments estimated at $500 million through 2022.

New sites opening in US and UK will realize regional manufacturing models. Overall, the companies plan to hire 2000 full-time associates over the next two years, Cytiva said.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/cytiva-and-pall-corp.-invest-%241.5-bln-to-meet-growing-demand-for-biotechnology-2021-07-27

Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp. III Announces Pricing of $150M IPO

 Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) announced today that it priced its initial public offering of 15,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit. The units will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) and will begin trading on, July 27, 2021, under the ticker symbol “ALPAU”. Each unit consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Only whole warrants will be exercisable and will trade on the Nasdaq.  Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, shares of the Class A common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “ALPA” and “ALPAW,” respectively.

The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While the Company may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry, it intends to focus its search on companies in the healthcare industry in the United States. The Company is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rajiv Shukla, and Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Sturgeon with Darlene DeRemer, Eugene Podsiadlo and William Woodward serving as independent directors.

BofA Securities, Inc. and PJT Partners LP are acting as joint book running managers for the offering. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/07/26/2269018/0/en/Alpha-Healthcare-Acquisition-Corp-III-Announces-Pricing-of-150-Million-Initial-Public-Offering.html

AC Immune to Acquire Parkinson’s Disease Vaccine Candidate

 

AC Immune - Figure 1

All stock acquisition & PIPE maintains and enhances AC Immune's strong cash position.

All stock acquisition & PIPE maintains and enhances AC Immune's strong cash position.

Figure 2

ACIU moves to the forefront of Parkinson's drug development

ACIU moves to the forefront of Parkinson's drug development

All-stock transaction maintains AC Immune’s strong cash position

USD 25 million private placement led by premier investor Athos Service GmbH

Transactions expand and accelerate AC Immune’s therapeutic development in Parkinson’s disease

AC Immune to immediately launch clinical development of acquired vaccine into an adaptive, biomarker-based Phase 2 study in Parkinson’s disease

Conference call scheduled today at 8:30 am ET / 2:30 pm CET

Conference Call Information
AC Immune will hold a conference call today, July 27, 2021, at 8:30 am ET / 2:30 pm CET. Interested participants and investors may access the conference call by dialing:

• 877-407-0792 (U.S.)

• +1 201-689-8263 (International)

• Conference ID: 13721912
  

A live webcast will be accessible via the Events section of the Company’s website. An archive of the webcast will be available for 90 days beginning at approximately 9:30 am ET / 3:30 pm CET, today, July 27, 2021.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ac-immune-announces-strategic-acquisition-113000880.html

Dyadic in tech transfer pact with S. Africa vaccine developer

 Potential for Affordable COVID-19 Immunization Coverage in Underserved African Countries

• Arrangement includes C1 COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer and licensing agreement

• Provides potential funding pathway for a C1 manufactured COVID-19 vaccine to progress through Phase II and Phase III clinical trials

• Establishes co-development basis for researching, developing and manufacturing multiple other C1 produced vaccines in addition to DYAI-100

• Intends to reduce African dependence on foreign vaccine suppliers

• Combined with previous C1 COVID-19 vaccine collaborations in India and South Korea (including Southeast Asia), this agreement further supports the potential for C1 produced COVID-19 immunization coverage to more than 40% of the world’s population

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dyadic-announces-technology-transfer-licensing-122000185.html