Aug. 18 Quick Takes: Early end to Bayer-Exscientia discovery deal
Plus FDA lifts Curis’ emavusertib hold and updates from Unity, Astellas, Lundbeck, Bavarian Nordic and more
AI-guided discovery company Exscientia Ltd. (NASDAQ:EXAI) said it had agreed mutually with Bayer AG (Xetra:BAYN) to end their partnership a few months before completing its three-year lifespan. On a conference call early Thursday, Exscientia CBO Richard Law said the biotech “successfully delivered the lead” on one target, and will have “full freedom to operate” on a second target covered by the agreement; he did not name either target. Exscientia described the Bayer partnership as its last deal “based on AI-only design services, which included lower economics and reduced operational involvement” compared with its more recent deals that include experimental biology and precision medicine components.
Curis Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) rose $0.21 (20%) to $1.26 after FDA lifted a partial clinical hold on the TakeAim Lymphoma Phase I/II study of emavusertib on April 11. The company said it would resume new patient enrollment this quarter and plans to make preliminary data available in 2023. It is also studying the IRAK4 kinase inhibitor in leukemia — FDA placed a hold on that study on April 4...