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  The 27 Lead Drug Molecules Acquired from Biotechs in 2021

  Our team conducted a review of all  the biotech acquisitions of 2021 and distilled it down to the acquisitions of drug discovery-focused biotechs.  Navigate the 2021 M&A Series the top overall drug discovery M&A transactions by value (Part 1) the transactions with disclosed upfront payments (Part 2) the most valuable small molecule acquisitions (Part 3)…

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  Billion-Dollar Molecules: Avacopan (Tavneos), a First-in-Class C5aR Antagonist Acquired by Amgen

  Amgen has acquired ChemoCentryx in a deal that includes lead molecule avacopan (Tavneos), a first-in-class orally bioavailable small molecule complement 5a receptor (C5aR) antagonist approved as an adjunctive treatment to standard of care therapy for adults with severe active anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). In this article we review: the details of the deal…

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  July 2022 Molecules of the Month Runners-Up

  You’ve read about the top 10 molecules with publications from July, but what about the ones we found interesting that didn’t make it into Molecules of the Month? There were six runners-up this month, including a selective covalent K-Ras(G12S) inhibitor with a butyrolactone warhead, a κ opioid receptor agonist, and a dinucleotide STING agonist. You…

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  Small Molecule and Biotechnology-Based Therapeutics for Immunology: 2021 IPO Review Pt. VI

  This article is Part VI of a review series covering all the initial public offerings for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries in 2021. Pt. I and Pt. II provided an overview of 2021 IPOs by therapy area, technology, and therapeutic class. Pt. III and Pt. IV provided a deep dive into the 2021 IPOs for…

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  Drug Hunter Letters #3 – September 2022

  This edition of Drug Hunter Letters highlights recent insightful communications from Drug Hunter readers, including:  Simon Bury on the History of GSK’s Recently Acquired $1.9B JAK Inhibitor Callie Bryan and Bryan McKibben on Insulin Receptor Partial Agonists and Recent Oncology Highlights Jesse Keicher on CXCR1/2 Antagonists in Treating Neuropathic Pain Correction from Abbas Kazimi: On…

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  First Disclosures from EFMC-ISMC Nice, 2022

  This year’s EFMC-ISMC conference in Nice, France, had a fantastic collection of talks. Among the highlights were the two First Disclosure sections, where companies shared the structures of their latest clinical candidates for the first time. Many thanks to Dr. Julien Lefranc, one of our featured reviewers, for sharing his notes on these sessions. We’ll…