The next act for a biotech rainmaker

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Hello, everyone. Damian here with an explanation of the latest trend in biotech financing, a big idea in oncology, and Novo Nordisk’s plans to make Wegovy obsolete.

The need-to-know this morning

• Happy Leap Year Day! An extra day in February allows for padding of the month’s biotech PIPE totals. Avidity Biosciences: $400 million.
• Life sciences investment firm Abingworth is providing Gilead Sciences with $210 million to fund clinical trials of Gilead’s drug Trodelvy in non-small cell lung cancer. In exchange, Abingworth will receive payments for potential expanded approvals and royalties on sales.
• Pfizer is about to make a big push in cancer. Will investors listen? In an interview, CEO Albert Bourla was insistent that investors are missing the potential of Pfizer’s acquisition of Seagen.

Where’d all these PIPEs come from?

Once upon a time, if a publicly traded biotech company needed money, it would sell shares on the open market, relying on the wisdom of the crowd to determine its valuation. But more and more biotech firms are embracing a new way of raising cash, scoring sweeter deals in exchange for a little insider information.

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