PTC faces another Duchenne drug rejection; Coherus sells the biosimilar Humira

Today, a brief roundup of news from PTC Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics and Coherus Biosciences, as well as updates from Sanofi, Lantheus Holdings and Forbion that you may have missed.

Medicines regulators in Europe have recommended, for the third time, against renewing the approval of PTC Therapeutics’ Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Medicine Translarna. The European Medicines Agency’s panel was asked to reassess the PTC application after the European Commission, in an unusual move, rejected its recommendation and suggested that it consider data from patient registries and real-world use. This evidence still does not prove that Translarna is effective, the panel said on Friday. The PTC will again seek another opinion, during which time Translarna will remain on the European market. – Ben Fidler

Esperion Therapeutics said Friday it has sold the European sales royalty rights for its cholesterol-lowering pill bempedoic acid to Omers Life Sciences for 305 million dollars. Omers will own those royalties until it receives 1.7x its initial investment, after which Esperion will reclaim the rights. Esperion will use some of the proceeds to repay a loan from Oberland Capitaland is still eligible to receive up to $300 million in milestone sales-based payments under a licensing agreement with Daiichi Sankyo. – Jonathan Gardner

Coherus BioSciences is selling the rights to Yusimry, a biosimilar version of Humira Hong Kong King-Friend Industrial for $40 million in cash. The biosimilar is the second Coherus has divested this year as part of a plan to focus its business on branded cancer drugs. It won US approval for its first, a cancer immunotherapy called Loqtorzi, in 2023. – Jonathan Gardner

Sanofi is investing $40 million in Vigilja Neuroscience, a drug that biotechnology is developing for neurodegenerative diseases. The agreement gives Sanofi the exclusive right of first negotiation to license from Vigil an experimental antibody targeting the TREM2 protein. Vigil has one such drug in early-stage testing for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The biotech, which went public in 2022 but has lost much of its value since then, said the deal would extend its cash runway through 2026. Gwendolyn Wu

Lantheus Holdings, a developer of radiopharmaceuticals and diagnostics, paid $35 million to acquire the rights to what it calls a “radiotheranostic pair” from Life Molecular Imaging. The pair consists of a lutetium-based treatment and a gallium-based diagnostic for prostate cancer, both of which target the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor. Discovered at the Universities of Bern and Basel, the pair was originally developed by Bayer and then licensed to Life Molecular. Lantheus plans to begin a Phase 1/2a study of the radiopharmaceutical next year, with the gallium-based agent used as a diagnostic companion. – Ned Pagliarulo

The story continues

European venture capital firm Forbion has hired ex Dyne Therapeutics CEO Josh Brumm to help expand its US presence, Brumm will serve as a general partner and support Forbion’s current portfolio companies, as well as “source new opportunities” in the US and Europe, the firm said on Thursday. Although Forbion is based in the Netherlands, about 30% of its investments are in the US and Canada. – Gwendolyn Wu

This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter.