Weekly Pharma & Life Science News Round-Up: 12th – 16th December 2022

A round-up of the latest news from the Pharma & Life Science industry; including news from the Pharmaceutical, Clinical Research, Biotechnology and Medical Device sectors from 12^th-16^th December 2022.

Novozymes and Chr. Hansen to combine and create a leading global biosolutions partner

Novozymes and Chr. Hansen have entered into an agreement to create a leading global biosolutions partner through a statutory merger of the two companies. The combination is expected to unleash the full potential of biological solutions and generate significant value.

Merck Begins Tender Offer to Acquire Imago BioSciences, Inc.

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, is commencing today, through a subsidiary, a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Imago BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGO).

Amgen Inc to Acquire Horizon Therapeutics plc

The board of directors of Horizon Therapeutics plc (the “Company” or “Horizon”) and the board of directors of Amgen Inc. (“Amgen”) are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a cash offer for the Company by Pillartree Limited (“Acquirer Sub”).

Yaral Pharma Launches in the US

Yaral Pharma Inc., the US generics subsidiary of IBSA, a long-standing, multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, launched today with the mission of providing access to high quality, affordable, authorized generics (AG) and complex generic medicines.

MRM Health and IFF Reach Second Milestone in the Partnered Type 2 Diabetes Program

MRM Health—a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation live microbiome consortia therapeutics—announced that its Type-2 Diabetes Program, developed in collaboration with IFF (NYSE: IFF) has achieved preclinical development targets.

Wellness Access Institute launches to accelerate the speed of innovation from the science to shopper

Wellness Access Institute (WAI) aims to position itself as the leading authority and innovation accelerator in the wellness industry. Established in June 2022 by Greg Macpherson and Warren Liu, WAI (Pronounced ‘why’) aims to address the industry's biggest problems.

Sosei Heptares Receives $10 Million Milestone Payment in Discovery Collaboration with AbbVie Targeting Inflammatory Diseases

Sosei Group Corporation (“the Company”; TSE: 4565), the world leader in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) focused structure-based drug design (SBDD) and development, announces that it has reached an important R&D milestone under its discovery collaboration with AbbVie.

Oxford Science Enterprises’ Portfolio Company OxfordVR to Combine with BehaVR to Confront the Mental Health Crisis with the Largest VR Delivery Platform for Evidence-Based Digital Therapeutics

Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) announces its Health Tech portfolio company OxfordVR, a leader in virtual reality (VR) treatments for serious mental illnesses, is to combine with BehaVR, a leading innovator in VR digital wellness and digital therapeutics experiences.

ImmunoTek Plasma Expands in Louisiana

The largest independent blood-plasma donation center operator in the world is coming to Ruston. ImmunoTek Plasma opens its Ruston location on December 13, 2022. ImmunoTek has deep Louisiana roots; the company started in 2013 and now has donation centers operating in 13 states.

ICON recognised as leading contract research organisation and employer by Scrip, Fierce Life Sciences, Financial Times and others

ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a world-leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation, has been recognised with a number of coveted business and industry awards over the second half of 2022 for delivering clinical research services, alongside specialist collaborations on data, analytics and digital healthcare.

Empyrean Neuroscience Forms Scientific Advisory Board

Empyrean Neuroscience, Inc., a genetic engineering company dedicated to developing neuroactive compounds to treat neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders, today announced its scientific advisory board.

Veranex Acquires Fusion Biotec to Continue Accelerating MedTech Diagnostic Solutions

Veranex, the only truly comprehensive, global, tech-enabled service provider dedicated to the MedTech industry, announced today that it has acquired Fusion Biotec (Fusion), a design and engineering leader for complex electro-mechanical diagnostic instrumentation and medical devices.

NanoVibronix Announces Partnership with Peak Medical, Ltd.

NanoVibronix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAOV), a medical device company utilizing the Company's proprietary and patented low intensity surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology, today announced that it has partnered with Peak Medical, Ltd., a continence care patient focused company.

ABBOTT AND THE BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA LAUNCH CONCUSSION AWARENESS NOW COALITION; TEAM UP WITH REBEL WILSON TO RAISE AWARENESS ON SERIOUSNESS OF CONCUSSIONS

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) and the Brain Injury Association of America announced they have cofounded a coalition of nearly 20 advocacy groups, and are teaming up with acclaimed actress, comedian, writer and producer Rebel Wilson to raise awareness of the seriousness of concussions.

GSK and Wave Life Sciences announce collaboration to drive discovery and development of oligonucleotide therapeutics focusing on novel genetic targets

GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: WVE) announces a strategic collaboration to advance oligonucleotide therapeutics, including Wave’s preclinical RNA editing programme targeting alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), WVE-006.

Parexel Teams with MyEyeDr. to Increase Patient Access and Participation in Ophthalmology Clinical Trials

Parexel, one of the world’s largest clinical research organizations (CROs) providing the full range of Phase I to IV clinical development services, today announced a formal agreement with MyEyeDr., a leading vision healthcare organization, to refer its patients into existing and future ophthalmology clinical trials.

UCB and Praxis Precision Medicines Announce Epilepsy Research Collaboration

UCB and Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced a strategic collaboration, based upon Praxis’ PRAX-020 program, for the discovery of small molecule therapeutics as potential treatments of KCNT1 related epilepsies.

Creative BioMart Launched an Integrated Neuroscience Technology Platform

Creative BioMart Optogenetics, a sub-brand of Creative BioMart that focused in the field related to genetics and biological product production, recently established an integrated neuroscience technology platform that incorporated cell culture, model biology R&D, and optogenetic equipment.

PrecisionLife Enters into a Multi Target R&D Collaboration Agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical

PrecisionLife Limited (“PrecisionLife”), a global techbio company generating the deepest insights into disease biology to create novel precision medicines in chronic diseases today announced that it has entered into a multi-target discovery and validation partnership with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Evotec achieves further progress in neuroscience collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb

Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809; NASDAQ: EVO) announced today that the Company has achieved further significant progress within its neuroscience collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY).