On January 27, 2022 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., (NYSE:TMO), the world leader in serving science, reported that it received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the seventh consecutive year (Press release, Thermo Fisher Scientific, JAN 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234608856]). As the national benchmarking tool measuring policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees, the CEI is a driving force for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.

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"We truly believe that embracing diverse backgrounds and perspectives is vital to our long-term success as we work toward our shared mission of enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer," said Jennifer Farmer, vice president, global diversity and inclusion at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Fostering an inclusive culture and a sense of belonging for our colleagues empowers them to contribute their best ideas and bring their true selves to work each day."

In 2002, the first year of the CEI, only 13 companies achieved a top-score. A record-breaking 842 businesses earned 100 percent on the 2022 CEI and the designation of being one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality," demonstrating the incredible impact the CEI has had on the business world over the last 20 years.

The CEI report measures performance across four categories, from the adoption of inclusive non-discrimination policies and equitable healthcare benefits for transgender employees to supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility. Thermo Fisher’s perfect score of 100 is based on its commitment to success within each of these important areas.

On January 27, 2022 Epizyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPZM), a fully integrated, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and delivering novel epigenetic therapies, reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 56,666,667 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $1.50 per share, before underwriting discounts (Press release, Epizyme, JAN 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234607451]). In addition, Epizyme has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 8,500,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount. All of the shares in the offering are to be sold by Epizyme.

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Epizyme anticipates the total gross proceeds from the offering (before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses) will be approximately $85.0 million, excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ options to purchase additional shares.

Epizyme anticipates using the net proceeds from the offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to fund global development and commercialization costs of tazemetostat outside of Japan, including the costs of conducting the Company’s ongoing and planned clinical trials of tazemetostat, including the Company’s confirmatory Phase 1b/3 trials in epithelioid sarcoma and follicular lymphoma (FL), the Company’s clinical trials of tazemetostat in additional FL populations and the Company’s clinical trials of tazemetostat across multiple types of hematological malignancies and solid tumors; to fund the Company’s Phase 1/1b trial of its SETD2 inhibitor, EZM0414 and the discovery and identification of additional product candidates to expand the Company’s pipeline of novel epigenetic therapies; to fund initiatives to accelerate commercial adoption of TAZVERIK; and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include the acquisition of companies or businesses or licensing of other products, businesses or technologies, and repayment and refinancing of debt.

Jefferies and Barclays are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Wedbush PacGrow and H.C. Wainwright & Co. are acting as co-lead managers. The offering is expected to close on January 31, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The shares are being offered by Epizyme pursuant to a shelf registration statement that was previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on May 6, 2021 and declared effective by the SEC on May 13, 2021. The offering is being made only by means of the written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement. The preliminary prospectus supplement relating to and describing the terms of the offering was filed with the SEC on January 26, 2022 and copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the offering may be obtained for free by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the securities being offered may also be obtained by contacting: Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by email at [email protected]; or Barclays Capital Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (888) 603-5847. The final terms of the offering will be disclosed in a final prospectus supplement to be filed with the SEC.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the securities being offered in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

On January 27, 2022 InnovHeart s.r.l., a developer of novel Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) systems for the treatment of mitral valve disease, reported the closing of its Series C financing with granting an exclusive licensing agreement to Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited, (Grand Pharma) for its proprietary Saturn device in Greater China (Press release, China Grand Pharmaceutical, JAN 27, 2022, https://www.innovheart.com/innovheart-raises-55-million-in-series-c-financing-to-further-develop-the-trans-septal-saturn-transcatheter-mitral-valve-replacement-system/ [SID1234607467]).

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The transaction pulled in more than $55 million in equity, upfront licensing fees, milestone payments and structured royalties.

Series C equity round was led by Grand Pharma, together with the existing investors Genextra, Panakes Partners and Indaco Venture Partners confirming their ongoing support by joining this investment round. Under the license agreement, Grand Pharma is entitled to develop, manufacture and commercialize the Saturn device in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

‘Interventional treatment for mitral regurgitation is considered to be one of the most challenging areas in the field of structural heart disease, yet also represents huge market potential, estimated to reach $17.4 billion globally in future years. This strategic agreement will provide InnovHeart with resources that will accelerate the development of the trans-septal version of the Saturn system into First-in-Human clinical trials, as well as access to the dynamic Chinese structural heart market’, said Keith D. Dawkins MD, Chairman of InnovHeart Board of Directors.

Commenting on this new collaboration, Shawn Chen, Senior management of the Medical Device Division of Grand Pharma, said, ’We are very excited about this collaboration. The successful closing of this transaction demonstrates that Grand Pharma has completed the strategic layout in our cerebro-cardiovascular high-end medical devices sector. InnovHeart Saturn technology is one of the most promising TMVR technologies in the market. I am confident that with InnovHeart’s expertise in this field and Grand Pharma’s strong capability and resources, we will bring this innovative clinical solution to Chinese patients soon’.

’InnovHeart has already demonstrated excellent mid-term (>1 year) results with the trans-apical version. This low profile, adaptive valve design decreases the risk of LVOT obstruction and will be implanted transeptally in FIH in 2022’, said Paolo Denti MD, Cardiac Surgeon, San Raffaele University Hospital, Milan, Italy.

On January 27, 2022 Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) reported that they have entered into an agreement whereby Samsung Biologics will acquire Biogen’s equity stake in the Samsung Bioepis joint venture for an aggregate consideration of up to USD $2.3 billion (Press release, Biogen, JAN 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234607484]).

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Biogen and Samsung Bioepis have built the industry leading anti-TNF portfolio in Europe1. Upon the acquisition of Biogen’s stake, the companies will continue with their exclusive agreements, including commercialization of their current portfolio. This includes marketed products BENEPALI (etanercept), a biosimilar referencing ENBREL, IMRALDITM (adalimumab), a biosimilar referencing Humira, and FLIXABI (infliximab), a biosimilar referencing Remicade. Additionally, Biogen will also retain commercial rights for BYOOVIZTM (ranibizumab-nuna), an approved biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS (ranibizumab), as well as an investigational biosimilar candidate in development, SB15 (aflibercept), a proposed biosimilar referencing EYLEA.

"We are thankful to Samsung Biologics for a productive collaboration since 2012," said Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer at Biogen. "We believe biosimilars are essential to help sustain healthcare systems and represent an important value creation opportunity for Biogen."

Samsung Biologics has agreed to pay Biogen up to $2.3 billion for its stake in the joint venture. Under the terms of this agreement, Biogen will receive $1 billion in cash at closing and $1.25 billion to be deferred over two payments of $812.5 million due at the first anniversary and $437.5 million due at the second anniversary of the closing of the transaction. Biogen is eligible to receive up to $50 million contingent upon achievement of certain commercial milestones. Closing of the transaction is contingent on the effectiveness of a securities registration statement filed by Samsung Biologics and satisfaction of certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions. Upon closing, Biogen will recognize a GAAP gain on disposal within other income (expense), net in its consolidated statement of income.

About Biosimilars
Biosimilars are biologic products that have been demonstrated to be similar in efficacy, safety and immunogenicity to the originator’s approved reference product, with the advantage that they can offer significant cost savings and increased patient access. Biosimilars may lower healthcare system costs broadly, creating headroom for innovation and could enable governments to potentially redirect savings to priorities such as increasing access to transformative therapies.

On January 26, 2022 Servier, an independent international pharmaceutical company, reported that it has partnered with French start-up Epigene Labs to develop an artificial intelligence-based application that prioritizes new cancer drug targets to determine the best therapeutic pathway to treat cancer patients (Press release, Servier, JAN 26, 2022, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oncology-servier-collaborates-to-create-innovative-application-for-researchers [SID1234607399]). The application will be deployed within Servier R&D in the first quarter of 2022.

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Founded in January 2019, French startup Epigene Labs has developed the mCUBE platform with augmented intelligence for aggregating and analyzing genomic data in oncology to derive biomarkers and prioritize new cancer drug targets.

Based on Epigene Labs’ mCUBE platform, the application is perfectly suited for oncology projects and Servier R&D users. The mCUBE platform allows users to cross-analyze clinical and molecular data (omics data) through a suite of dynamic dashboards, accelerating the decision-making process in the early phases of oncology projects.

Epigene Labs has developed this application based on specifications provided by Servier’s teams from several fields of expertise (Bioinformatics, IT/data, oncology, Digital Information and Data System – DIDS). The mCUBE platform is widely deployed among Servier R&D users. In order to ensure continuous improvement, users will regularly share their feedback with Epigene Labs teams.

According to Céline Lefebvre, Ph.D., who leads the computational medicine team at Servier R&D and who is in charge of this project: "Epigene Labs has delivered a solution that is perfectly adapted to Servier’s projects in the field of oncology and that is in line with Servier’s Data&IA R&D strategy. The mCUBE platform will accelerate our decision making. It is a great lever for improving our working methods for the benefit of cancer patients.

Akpéli Nordor, Pharm.D., Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Epigene Labs, added, "Epigene Labs is pleased to work with Servier to demonstrate the utility of its tools. As oncologists, we have a unique understanding of the tools other oncologists need to accelerate data-driven drug discovery, biomarker identification and patient selection. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Servier to rapidly deliver the best treatments to cancer patients."

The partnership with Epigene Labs illustrates Servier’s open and collaborative innovation dynamic, which aims to surround itself with a network of diversified partners to accelerate therapeutic innovation and offer patients innovative and personalized treatments.

Céline Triquel, Open Innovation Project Manager at Servier, concludes: "This project called for collaborative work methods, agility, courage and perseverance, with the objective of developing innovations for the patient. I would like to thank all the contributors to this project, which illustrates our willingness and ability to access and integrate cutting-edge technologies, driven by open innovation and supported by the startup@servier program. "*

* The startup@servier program aims to create value for the startup and Servier with the objective of accelerating therapeutic innovation for the benefit of patients. A first phase of joint work allows the startup to conduct a key study or pilot application of a technology, before entering into a classic collaboration.