Nov. 17 Quick Takes: FDA approves Provention’s mAb to slow onset of diabetes

FDA’s approval of Tzield teplizumab from Provention Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:PRVB) makes the anti-CD3 mAb the first authorized therapeutic to delay the onset of stage 3 Type I diabetes in pediatric patients aged eight years and older. The biotech’s partner MacroGenics Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNX) is due a $60 million milestone payment associated with the approval; Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NASDAQ:SNY) entered a deal this month to co-promote the mAb with Provention. In 2019, Provention reported Phase II data showing the anti-CD3 mAb delayed onset of the disease by two years in at risk children and adults. FDA rebuffed the company’s prior BLA in July 2021, citing product quality issues. Shares of Provention rose $0.71 to $8.95 in after-hours trading. MacroGenics was up $0.34 to $6.90 after the bell.

Spun out of the University of California San Francisco’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute, Rezo Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth Thursday with $78 million from VCs led by SR One, Andreessen Horowitz and Norwest Venture Partners. The company will seek to interrogate disparate datasets to create maps of molecular disease networks, then discover druggable targets, initially in oncology. Co-founders include UCSF professor and QBI Director Nevan Krogan, who is Rezo’s CEO; UCSF’s Kevan Shokat, Sourav Bandyopadhyay and Natalia Jura; Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) President and CEO George Scangos, who is Rezo’s chairman; and Kronos Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:KRON) President and CEO Norbert Bischofberger. The syndicate also included SV Angel, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Hawktail...