psychedelics
Spravato could bring in nearly $1 billion
Spravato, Johnson & Johnson's esketamine nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, is scraping a $1 billion run rate, Jefferies analysts say.
"We think Spravato's strong sales trajectory supports [the] notion psychedelics can become commercially viable for mental health," including outside of the U.S., Jefferies writes. This could also increase the perception that psychedelics are worthy of further investment, they say. This is good news for other companies in this space like ATAI Life Sciences and Lykos Therapeutics, which are developing treatments for mental health disorders using drugs like MDMA and psilocybin.
cell therapy
Cell therapy player Cullinan expands to autoimmune disease, changes name
A cell therapy company is broadening its scope to include autoimmune disease, and is changing its name accordingly. Cullinan Oncology is now Cullinan Therapeutics, and it will focus first on systemic lupus erythematous. The company just closed a $280 million round of private placement financing, which should keep it financially viable through 2028.
The company is developing a cell therapy called CLN-978 that it hopes will be an off-the-shelf treatment for lupus and perhaps other autoimmune diseases. Research is increasingly demonstrating that CAR-T therapies, typically used for blood cancers, could be effective in autoimmune disease.
"Overall, we think the move into autoimmune for CLN-978 has strong scientific rationale, bolstered by superlative efficacy data for CD19 CAR-T therapies in autoimmune diseases," Leerink analysts wrote in a note.
venture capital
Pfizer veteran becomes newest partner at Canaan
Venture firm Canaan has a new partner: Uwe Schoenbeck, a longtime Pfizer executive who most recently has served as chief scientific officer for its external science and innovation division. He'll be in charge of investing in or creating new companies with the Menlo Park firm's latest fund. He led the recent $132 million Series B financing for Alterome Therapeutics, and now serves on its board of directors.
Schoenbeck has been at Pfizer since 2008, where he helped create or advance dozens of early stage companies through seed and equity investments. Pfizer ultimately acquired several. He was also a key figure in collaborating with BioNTech to jointly develop the blockbuster mRNA vaccine for Covid-19.
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