Nordic Life Science 1
TOP STORIES BUSINESS Neurimmune conIn November 20
21, Jakob Lindberg was appointed CEO of Oncopeptides. He replaced Marty J Duvall, who had been CEO since July 2020. cerns NI006, an investigational human monoclonal antibody currently in Phase Ib development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. Alexion, AstraZeneca’s Rare Disease group, will pay Neurimmune an upfront payment of 30 million USD, with the potential for additional contingent milestone payments of up to 730 million USD upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as low-to-mid teen royalties on net sales of any approved medicine resulting from the collaboration. The new collaboration THE DECISION TO withdraw Pepaxto was taken after interactions and dialogue with the FDA. As a consequence, Oncopeptides announced that it will refocus the company and return to being a Swedenbased R&D company, dedicated to further developing its Peptide Drug Conjugate (PDC) platform, including the drug candidates OPD5 and OPDC3. The organization was scaled down to increase the cash runway and focus on building a platform for longer term development and growth. The commercial business units in the US and Europe will be closed down and the Stockholm-based organization will be significantly reduced. However, in January 2022 the company contacted the FDA and rescinded the October 22, 2021, letter requesting voluntary withdrawal of the NDA of Pepaxto in the US. Further review and analyses of the heterogenous overall survival data from the OCEAN study and other relevant trials have led the company to reconsider its previous voluntary withdrawal request. Oncopeptides does not intend to market Pepaxto in the US at this time. The company has initiated a dialogue with the FDA to review the new data. with Scorpion Therapeutics focuses on transcription factors, which control gene expression and can regulate important cellular processes including cell growth and survival. The companies will combine Scorpion’s discovery platform with AstraZeneca’s leadership in developing and commercializing precision medicines for cancer treatment. Scorpion will receive an upfront cash payment of 75 million USD and is eligible to receive additional success-based payments in the form of option fees and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales ranging from mid-single digit to lowdouble digits. 16 NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG PHOTO LIZA SIMONSSON