Drug Discovery

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma has agreed to acquire five of Roivant Sciences’ 20 companies or “vants”—as well as options to buy up to six more vants, and access to Roivant proprietary technology platforms—for $3 billion upfront.

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School research study reveals that reversible mutations in the M. tuberculosis glpK gene, a gene responsible for an important metabolic pathway, produce a reversible form of tolerance to most of the first-line drugs used to treat TB.

Scientists from ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have now discovered an additional, previously unknown mechanism that spreads resistance in intestinal bacteria that is independent of the use of antibiotics.

Novartis will team up with a subsidiary of IFM Therapeutics to develop immunotherapies designed to fight inflammatory and autoimmune diseases by inhibiting the cGAS/STING pathway, through a collaboration that IFM said today grants the pharma giant an option to acquire the subsidiary for up to $840 million.

An Imperial College London-led team of researchers has found that estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers harbor a transcriptionally distinct population of cells that are pushed into "sleeper mode" by hormone therapy, and may represent an intermediate stage to becoming fully drug resistant. Their studies suggested that when these cells reawaken perhaps decades later they are more likely to metastasize and cause secondary tumors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire Semma Therapeutics for $950 million cash, in a deal that would expand the buyer’s pipeline of specialty treatment with Semma’s potentially curative cell therapy for type 1 diabetes.

Sponsor: Solentim

DDI studies often focus on drug metabolism. But as biologics and other drug categories diversify, DDI studies are widening their view, taking in transporter assays, in silico models, and more.

Multicellular 3D cell aggregates pose formation, handling, and assaying challenges—each of which can be overcome, says Corning Life Sciences, with the right tools and procedures.

Nexcelom’s CellacaTM MX high-throughput automated cell counter was developed to enable highly accurate cell counting at fast speeds to help accelerate scientific advancements.