Voyager clears Neurocrine deal; Anthem speeds up launch; Lilly rushed its deal

Voyager clears Neurocrine agreement for Parkinson’s gene therapy

Voyager Therapeutics is signing a collaboration agreement with Neurocrine Biosciences that will remunerate the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech USD 165 million upfront. In return, Neurocrine benefits certain rights to four gene therapy programs, including one in Parkinson’s disease in an ongoing Phase 2 study. Voyager has previously collaborated with AbbVie and Sanofi Genzyme. Voyager, which will receive USD 1.7 billion in milestone payments from Neurocrine.  

Anthem speeds up launch of PBM IngenioRx

Anthem is accelerating the debut of its own pharmacy benefit IngenioRx. The fourth quarter earnings of the Blue Cross Blue Shield payer per share of USD 2.44 beat expectations of analysts and stock price of Anthem shot up nearly 10%.  Anthem had the modest revenue growth for both the fourth quarter and year-end. But net income fell to USD 424 million during the fourth quarter from USD 1.2 billion.

Lilly rushed its Loxo agreement to have a big reveal at J.P. Morgan

Eli Lilly goes for accelerated acquisition of Loxo Oncology. It is done so that it could announce the agreement at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. The agreement has remunerating USD 235 per Loxo share for a total valuation of USD 8 billion. Lilly representatives intended to swiftly finish due diligence and execute a transaction. Lilly was the only company to put up a bid for Loxo, which at the time was having trouble locking down a licensing agreement for its most advanced candidate, LOXO-292.