May 14 Company Quick Takes: F-star rejiggers Merck KGaA deal; plus Roche/Spark, AbbVie/Boehringer, Ipsen
F-star to keep lead bispecific in new deal with Merck KGaA
F-star Biotechnology Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.) reconfigured its 2017 bispecific antibody deal with Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK) and will now retain rights to lead candidate FS118. Merck has exercised its option for one preclinical program and has an option to a second. Financial terms were not disclosed (see "Merck KGaA Takes Option on F-Star's Bispecific Antibodies").
Further delay for Roche’s Spark takeout
Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) and Spark Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ONCE) delayed the refiling of their premerger notification and report forms to May 23 to "provide the government with additional time to complete its current review." The companies withdrew the filings last month and had planned to refile by May 9. As of Monday, Roche has received 21% of Spark's outstanding shares, down from the 29.4% it held on April 3 (see "Roche Extends Offer for Spark Again")...