March 29 Quick Takes: Final close for LSP Dementia Fund
Plus: Bluebird will likely miss submission goal for lovo-cel and updates from Merck, Blueprint, Intarcia, J&J
EQT Life Sciences held a final close of its LSP Dementia Fund at €260 million ($277 million), more than double its original €100 million target, with LPs that include the Alzheimer’s Association, the European Investment Fund, pharmas and insurance companies. The fund, which intends to invest in 10-15 neurodegenerative companies, has invested in four biotechs to date: AviadoBio Ltd., Muna Therapeutics ApS, NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V. (NASDAQ:NAMS) and QurAlis Corp.
On Wednesday’s quarterly earnings call for bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE), CEO Andrew Obenshain acknowledged that the biotech is unlikely to submit its BLA for cell therapy lovotibeglogene autotemcel to treat sickle cell disease this quarter. “We continue to progress our lovo-cel BLA, but speaking plainly, we will likely miss the Q1 2023 submission goal,” he said, adding that the document has been “completely written” and is ready for submission, but the company is awaiting dialogue with FDA concerning CMC. The biotech’s shares dipped 25% to $3.26. ...