BUSINESS INSIGHTS
invoX Pharma Limited | August 05, 2022
invoX Pharma Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited focused on research and development and business development activities outside of China, and F-star Therapeutics, Inc. a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering bispecifics in immunotherapy so more people with cancer can live longer and improved lives, today announced that invoX has extended the expiration of its previously announced tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding shares of F-star common stock for a price of $7.12 per share. The tender offer is now scheduled to expire at 05:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 19, 2022, unless it is further extended. The tender offer was previously scheduled to expire at one minute after 11:59 P.M., Eastern time, on August 3, 2022.
The tender offer is being extended in order to allow additional time for the satisfaction of the regulatory conditions to the offer. The depositary for the tender offer has advised invoX that as of the previous expiration time there were validly tendered and not withdrawn a total of approximately 13,026,582 shares of F-star common stock, and approximately 2,704,867 shares of F-star common stock tendered pursuant to a notice of guaranteed delivery.
All terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged during the extension period. F-star shareholders who have already tendered their shares do not have to re-tender their shares or take any other action as a result of the extension. Complete terms and conditions of the tender offer are set forth in the Offer to Purchase, Letter of Transmittal and other related materials, which have been filed by invoX with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 7, 2022, as amended. In addition, F-star filed a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC on July 7, 2022, as amended, which includes, among other things, the recommendation of F-star’s board of directors that F-star stockholders tender all of their shares in the tender offer.
The Information Agent for the tender offer is Innisfree M&A Incorporated. The Depositary and Paying Agent for the tender offer is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. For all questions relating to the tender offer, please call the Information Agent, Innisfree M&A Incorporated toll-free at (888) 750-5830; banks and brokers may call collect at (212) 750-5833.
About invoX
invoX was incorporated in March 2021 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sino Biopharm, a global top 40 pharmaceutical company with more than 24,000 employees. United Kingdom-based invoX is Sino Biopharm’s international expansion platform, focusing on R&D and business development activities outside of China, with a core focus on oncology and respiratory therapeutics. At its core, invoX aspires to improve patients’ lives by creating access to innovative medicine.
About Sino Biopharm
Sino Biopharm, together with its subsidiaries, is a leading, innovative research and development driven pharmaceutical conglomerate in China, with a business scope that is vertically integrated including research and development, manufacturing and sales and marketing infrastructure. Sino Biopharm’s product offerings include a variety of biologics and small molecule drugs, and in therapy areas that include hepatology, oncology, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, orthopaedics, digestive and immune and respiratory diseases.
About F-star
F-star is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering bispecifics in immunotherapy so more people with cancer can live longer and have improved lives. F-star is committed to working towards a future free from cancer and other serious diseases, through the use of tetravalent (2+2) bispecific antibodies to create a paradigm shift in treatments. F-star has four second-generation immuno-oncology therapeutics in the clinic, each directed against some of the most promising immuno-oncology targets in drug development, including LAG-3 and CD137. F-star’s proprietary antibody discovery platform is protected by an extensive intellectual property estate. F-star has over 500 granted patents and pending patent applications relating to its platform technology and product pipeline. F-star has attracted multiple partnerships with biopharma targeting significant unmet needs across several disease areas, including oncology, immunology, and CNS.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS
Simulations Plus, Inc. | August 08, 2022
Simulations Plus, Inc. a leading provider of modeling and simulation software and services for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy, announced it has entered a new collaboration with a large pharmaceutical company to extend the industry’s top-rated machine learning models for the prediction of ionization constants (pKa) in the ADMET Predictor® platform.
In this collaboration, the partner company will contribute tens of thousands of proprietary pKa measurements. The team at Simulations Plus will aim to leverage the expansive databases to improve the accuracy of predictions, and extend the chemical coverage space, using its novel machine learning and atomic descriptor calculation methods.
“The ionization of molecules in water impacts nearly all properties driving the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination processes which occur in vivo and determine whether a molecule can be turned into a drug. We identified early the importance of accurately, and rapidly, predicting this information using machine learning approaches and were fortunate to benefit from government grants and other collaborations over the years to develop novel 2D pKa models which have consistently outperformed other software and are on par with the accuracy of the best computationally intensive ab initio methods. This new partnership will enhance our current approaches and further distinguish ADMET Predictor as the preeminent property prediction platform in the drug discovery space. We value the trust and confidence our partner has in the people and technologies at Simulations Plus, and our team is looking forward to working with them to achieve our mutual goals.”
Dr. Robert Fraczkiewicz, Research Fellow and project lead
“The surging popularity of our pKa models and associated ionization-related property predictions, coupled with the seamless integration with the GastroPlus® platform in our high-throughput pharmacokinetic simulation technology, have contributed to the accelerated adoption of ADMET Predictor at the interface between discovery and development,” added Dr. Eric Jamois, director for key accounts and strategic alliances. “This new collaborative effort will combine the strengths of both companies and result in significant advancements for predictive modeling. Simulations Plus ensures that improvements made to ADMET Predictor are available for all clients to apply to their research activities, and we continue to invite future collaborations which benefit our entire user community and, most importantly, the patients that we serve.”
About Simulations Plus
Serving clients worldwide for more than 25 years, Simulations Plus is a leading provider in the biosimulation market providing software and consulting services supporting drug discovery, development, research, and regulatory submissions. We offer solutions that bridge machine learning, physiologically based pharmacokinetics, quantitative systems pharmacology/toxicology, and population PK/PD modeling approaches. Our technology is licensed and applied by major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and regulatory agencies worldwide.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
We focus our Environmental, Social, and Governance efforts where we can have the most positive impact. To learn more about our latest initiatives and priorities, please visit our website to read our ESG Report.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS
WuXi AppTec | August 17, 2022
WuXi STA, a leading Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization is pleased to announce the groundbreaking for its new 190-acre pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Middletown, Delaware. First announced in June 2021, this site will be WuXi STA's second facility in the United States, offering expanded capacity and greater flexibility to meet the needs of customers in the U.S. and around the world.
The WuXi STA Middletown site is located in the Middletown Business Center at 1091 Industrial Drive, and the new state-of-the-art facility will create approximately 500 full-time jobs by 2026. Phase I of the new campus will provide formulation development, clinical and commercial drug product manufacturing services for a variety of oral and injectable dosage forms, as well as packaging, labeling, storage and distribution services for clinical trial materials and commercial drug products.
WuXi STA has 12 sites across the U.S., Europe and Asia that offer a range of services and meet or exceed all regulatory standards. Together with three other drug product manufacturing sites in Couvet Wuxi City (China) and Shanghai this new facility will further enhance the company's global drug production capacity and capabilities.
"The biopharmaceutical industry is part of Delaware's DNA. Over the next five years, WuXi STA plans to build a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in one of Delaware's fastest-growing communities, bringing with it good jobs and economic growth. This campus is only possible because of Delaware's world-class, innovative workforce. Thank you to WuXi STA, Middletown Mayor Kenny Branner and everyone who made this project possible."
Delaware Governor John Carney
"The First State continues to be a first-rate destination for businesses looking to innovate and grow," said Senator Tom Carper. "This investment by WuXi STA helps position Delaware as a continued global leader in biopharmaceuticals, further cementing the manufacturing might of one of our fastest growing communities. Delaware's workforce is ready to help build the future of our life-saving pharmaceuticals. This state-of-the-art campus will create good jobs and help fortify our supply chains here at home."
"This biopharmaceutical facility is one most significant private sector investment ever in the Middletown region," said Senator Chris Coons. "I am excited about WuXi STA's decision to choose Middletown for one of their new manufacturing facilities. This isn't just the largest private-sector investment in Middletown's history – it's a defining moment that will bring many more good-paying jobs to Delaware and will further cement the First State as a world leader in biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing. Thanks are due to everyone from Middletown to Dover to Washington who helped us get to this point, whether by making continued investments in NIIMBL, improving our education system from kindergarten to our universities, or ensuring that Delaware workers have the skills manufacturers like WuXi AppTec are looking for."
"As the First State, Delaware has always had a spirit of innovation – constantly seeking new opportunities and ventures that will strengthen our economy and our state as a whole," said Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. "Today's groundbreaking of the WuXi STA pharmaceutical manufacturing plant represents another step in that spirit of innovation – bringing good-paying jobs to Middletown and strengthening communities throughout Delaware. The state-of-the-art facility will bring 500 full-time jobs over the next several years, growing our state's workforce and allowing us to manufacture more goods domestically - enhancing our economic competitiveness on the global stage."
"We are truly looking forward to our partnership with WuXi STA, as the groundbreaking today marks the kick-off to them making their new home in Middletown, Delaware. WuXi STA will be joining our bustling industrial area, just steps away from Clarios, Datwyler, Amazon and Breakthru Beverage, just some of the companies that have invested in Middletown. When asked by WuXi STA about our business-friendly attitude, these businesses expressed their wholehearted support for how we do business and we couldn't be more excited about WuXi STA wanting to join them, and the Town of Middletown, in our journey together," said Middletown Mayor Ken Branner. Branner added he was thankful for the support of Gov. John Carney and the Delaware Prosperity Partnership.
"I would like to thank our federal, state and local partners in Delaware for their continued support in the establishment of this site," said Dr. Minzhang Chen, co-CEO of WuXi AppTec and CEO of WuXi STA. "WuXi STA continues to increase our capabilities and capacities to better serve our customers through a more robust and reliable supply chain. With our integrated Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization platform and proven quality system, we look forward to working with our customers to swiftly deliver their innovative therapies to market in order to save lives and improve healthcare for patients."
About WuXi STA
WuXi STA a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec is a leading pharmaceutical development and manufacturing capability and technology platform company serving the life sciences industry, with global operations. As a premier Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization WuXi STA offers its worldwide partners efficient, flexible and high-quality solutions for integrated chemical, manufacturing and controls from preclinical to commercial uses, including the development and manufacturing of small molecule, oligonucleotide, peptide and various complex chemical conjugate.
About WuXi AppTec
As a global company with operations across Asia, Europe, and North America, WuXi AppTec provides a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services that enable the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry to advance discoveries and deliver groundbreaking treatments to patients. Through its unique business models, WuXi AppTec's integrated, end-to-end services include chemistry drug CRDMO biology discovery, preclinical testing and clinical research services, cell and gene therapies CTDMO helping customers improve the productivity of advancing healthcare products through cost-effective and efficient solutions. WuXi AppTec received AA ESG rating from MSCI in 2021 and its open-access platform is enabling more than 5,850 collaborators from over 30 countries to improve the health of those in need – and to realize the vision that "every drug can be made and every disease can be treated."
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