France's Innate Pharma gets a boost to its plans to become a fully integrated biotech by forging a long-term immuno-oncology development partnership with AstraZeneca, and the setting up of a commercialization team in the US.

Takeda's $50m+ deal for Enterome's EB8018 is based on a separate platform from that being used under the French company's collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.

Repeat antibiotic entrepreneurs raised $33m to launch Qpex with assets from The Medicines Co. Also, Taiho increases VC fund to $300m and TP Therapeutics raises $80m.

Lupin’s rare disease drug, NaMuscla, has been recommended for marketing authorization in Europe – a key milestone for the firm as it shapes its play in the specialty segment. The company may consider taking NaMuscla to other markets such as Japan as well and also add assets to its neuroscience portfolio.

The US FDA cleared Sanofi/Regeneron's IL-4/IL-13 inhibitor for moderate-to-severe asthma in patients with an eosinophilic phenotype or with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma, a broader label than AstraZeneca's Fasenra, GSK's Nucala and Teva's Cinqair.

Already partnered with Oxford Nanopore through its acquisition of deCODE Genetics, Amgen invests in the UK biotech to enhance its genomic capabilities. Aclaris licenses dermatology product Rhofade from Allergan. Other recent licensing and alliance deals... 

A positive opinion in the EU for Shire's Takhzyro and a favorable US advisory committee vote for prucalopride are incremental positives for Takeda's planned acquisition, on which shareholders are likely to vote in the coming weeks.

Vertex’s portfolio-based access deal in Denmark will give patients quicker access to a range of cystic fibrosis drugs and give budget predictability to the company and government.

An update on Bayer and Loxo's tissue-agnostic therapy for cancers with NTRK gene fusions has impressed, confirming the sustained durable effect of larotrectinib as it nears its action date for approval in the US.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Clinicians and analysts have lauded spectacular results presented at ESMO from the SOLO-1 trial which strongly suggest that AstraZeneca's Lynparza should be the first-line maintenance treatment of choice for ovarian cancer patients with a BRCA mutation.