Prometic bags $50M; Vedanta receives $12M; Humira biosimilar deal

Prometic bags USD 50 Million stock sale option to ease a cash crunch

Prometic Life Sciences got into an agreement for selling USD 50 million in stock. This gives Prometic a way to escape its current financial pressures. Canada-based Prometic was asked by the FDA to make and validate process changes for Ryplazim, a congenital plasminogen deficiency treatment. The company reverted by contemplating to extend its financial runway, both by cutting costs and getting money into the business. The R&D costs are expected to plunge by USD 30 million in 2019.

Vedanta receives USD 12 Million from Johnson & Johnson for the microbiome drug trial

The collaboration of Vedanta Biosciences with Johnson & Johnson on microbiome therapies has gone for the clinical stage, remunerating a USD 12 million payment. The volunteers are now being treated in a phase 1 trial of VE202, a bacteria-based treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), focused on the microbiome – the population of gut bacteria that when out of balance are thought to play a role in many diseases.

Humira biosimilar agreement to save more than USD 300 Million

NHS England, the national health service, negotiated deals with five drugmakers to receive access to lower-cost versions of Humira of AbbVie. The health service apprised about USD 383 million in anticipated savings that it would be the biggest in NHS history from a single drug negotiation. The deals will decrease hospitals’ Humira bills by around three-quarters and could pay for 11,700 more community nurses or 19,800 more breast cancer treatments for patients.