Biotech’s most interesting fundraisings from the last week

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Hi, biotech friends. As we gear up for ASCO, we cogitate on some interesting questions. For instance: Gene therapy carries great potential to cure certain forms of congenital deafness, but does the community actually want that? Also, we see a confirmatory trial fail in Duchenne, and more.

The need-to-know this morning

• An experimental drug from Insmed successfully reduced lung problems among patients with an airway disease in a closely watched Phase 3 trial, sending the company’s share price soaring early this morning.
• Seeking to build up its pharma business, the Japanese conglomerate Asahi Kasei is buying Swedish biotech Calliditas Therapeutics in a nearly $1.1 billion cash deal.
• Agios Pharmaceuticals announced a $905 million purchase agreement with Royalty Pharma for rights to royalties on sales of the cancer drug vorasidenib.
• An inhaled, mRNA-based drug from Arcturus Therapeutics improved lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis, according to a preliminary results from a Phase 1 study.
• Johnson & Johnson is paying $1.25 billion to acquire an experimental bispecific antibody under development for atopic dermatitis from privately held Numab Therapeutics.

ASCO studies to watch

The annual meeting of ASCO starts later this week, and the glut of new data can be a bit overwhelming. So we’re highlighting some studies that are of particular interest, as we await news from STAT’s Adam Feuerstein, Matthew Harper, and Angus Chen, who will be on site in Chicago. (Sign up for our daily “ASCO in 30 seconds” newsletter here.)

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