March 30 Quick Takes: Scynexis deal gives GSK another anti-infective

Signaling once more that it believes anti-infectives represent an underserved commercial opportunity, GSK plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) is paying Scynexis Inc. (NASDAQ:SCYX) $90 million up front for most global rights to Brexafemme ibrexafungerp, an oral antifungal therapy approved in the U.S. to treat vulvovaginal candidiasis and reduce the incidence of its recurrence. News of the deal lifted Scynexis’ shares by 76%, giving it a market cap of nearly $100 million. In September, the pharma paid $66 million to Spero Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) for rights to carbipenem antibiotic tebipenem HBr for urinary tract infections. Leading both deals was GSK CSO Tony Wood, who succeeded Hal Barron last year, and recently spoke with BioCentury about the pharma’s strategy on The BioCentury Show.

AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) is paying KYM Biosciences Inc. $63 million up front for exclusive, global rights to CMG901, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting CLDN18.2 that the pharma said could be first in class. The therapy, which joins the mAb with a protease-degradable linker and a cytotoxic small molecule monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), is in Phase I testing to treat CLDN18.2-positive solid tumors, including gastric cancer. KYM Biosciences Inc., a JV between Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HKEX:2162) and Lepu Biopharma Co. Ltd. (HKEX:2157), is eligible for $1.1 billion in milestones, plus royalties...