The alliance comes on the heels of a change in leadership at ADC and will help ready the biotech to launch its lymphoma drug in Europe.

While AbbVie is bailing on one of the two programs it paid Alector $205 million to acquire five years ago, work will continue on the second project. That drug, however, has shown safety signals.
 

The biotech detailed the process that led to its take-private offer last month, aiming to win the support of shareholders, including two firms that have pushed for change. 

With at least 14 buyouts worth $50 million or more, the second quarter was one of the busiest three-month periods for acquisitions in recent years. Some industry watchers expect that pace to continue. 

The company said the new examination is more “in line” with FDA guidance and still found that its drug, known as OCA, helped reduce liver scarring.

An acquisition reportedly worth $40 billion or more and potentially signed within weeks could draw notable scrutiny from regulators and force the companies to divest certain drug programs.  

A year after reporting side effects “not seen before in ocular gene therapy” in a clinical trial, the biotech is eliminating 38% of its workforce to save cash while it runs a new study. 

The regulator could clear Biogen and Eisai’s lecanemab by early January. A decision before Phase 3 results could amplify the criticism the agency already faces, however.

The FDA’s decision is the latest boost for a company whose shares have climbed more than 30% during the biotech sector’s worst downswing in years. 

Syros Pharmaceuticals and Tyme Technologies, shares of which trade near all-time lows, will combine and raise about $130 million in the latest example of how the industry’s slump is affecting publicly traded biotechs. 

New study results support the potential use of its breast cancer medicine Tukysa, part of a wide-ranging alliance with rumored buyer Merck & Co., in advanced colorectal cancer. 

The biotech, whose own efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine have faltered, claims its inventions were crucial to the development of BioNTech’s top-selling coronavirus shot.