Markets
Good news and bad news for biotech IPOs
Boundless Bio, a cancer-focused firm, raised $100 million in one of 2024's few biotech IPOs yesterday. And then its share price fell about 9% on a day biotech stocks were flat.
Despite the immediate decline, Boundless now has the cash to push forward with a pipeline of treatments aimed at the rings of DNA found in tumors but absent from healthy cells. Roughly 15% of cancers have that so-called extrachromosomal DNA, and Boundless is developing treatments to block the biological process that produces it. The company's lead drug is in Phase 1, with data expected in the second half of this year.
As for biotech at large, Boundless becomes just the ninth company to successfully go public in 2024. That's a mere fraction of the more than 70 IPOs recorded during the sector's 2021 boom, but it puts the industry on pace to double 2023's numbers, suggesting biotech might finally be heading for some equanimity.
China
What's Congress going to do with WuXi?
For weeks, members of Congress have debated legislation that would effectively ban a handful of Chinese life sciences companies from doing business in the U.S., driven by concerns that they might misuse genomic data. Curiously listed among them was WuXi AppTec, a firm that conducts outsourced research and manufacturing for drug companies and seemed far removed from the spirit of the legislation.
But the story turns out to be more complicated. Reuters reported yesterday that U.S. intelligence officials believe WuXi passed an American client's intellectual property on to Chinese authorities without permission, citing two people familiar with the matter. WuXi said it complies with U.S. laws and has no knowledge of such an incident. No one else involved is commenting.
WuXi, which gets about 65% of its revenue from U.S. clients, has "been actively working … to set the record straight and advocate for changes to the proposed legislation," the company said earlier this month.
Oncology
Bristol's $4.8 billion deal didn't blow up
A Bristol Myers Squibb cancer treatment met its primary goal in a Phase 3 trial, the company said, removing a lingering concern tied to the company's $4.8 billion buyout of Mirati Therapeutics last year.
The news is that Krazati, a targeted treatment for lung cancer, delayed tumor growth and charted a higher response rate than standard chemotherapy. The study remains ongoing to determine whether Krazati extends overall survival compared to conventional treatment, and Bristol is saving the actual data for a future medical meeting.
The update is a net positive one for Krazati, which is already approved in lung cancer and has an FDA decision in colon cancer slated for June. But recent history suggests the Krazati story could still change. Amgen, which markets a rival therapy called Lumakras, got an ostensibly positive result in a similar lung cancer study, but a detailed look at the data revealed only moderate benefits on disease progression and a survival curve that favored chemotherapy.
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