💊 Sanofi re-ups partnership with Innate, Boehringer re-ups tie-up with Click; AbbVie says hello to depression

#241 | Prediction: World Cup win leads to Covid surge

Hello, and welcome back to The Kable. At the beginning of this year, there was lots of coverage about Novartis and all the jobs being culled there. It sure looks like Novartis means to end the year the way it began, with nearly 300 jobs being cut across three sites in New Jersey.

With the recently increased attention on mental health, especially post-pandemic, diagnoses of mental health conditions are picking up pace around the world. And depression is one of the conditions leading the field. Looking to cash in is AbbVie with an expanded label for Vraylar and an eye on $4 billion in sales. 

It is also a big day for deals. First up, Genentech and Biogen ink a royalty deal for Biogen's blood cancer drug candidate. Boehringer Ingelheim digs deeper into its existing collab with Click Therapeutics, with a new deal worth $460 million targeting Schizophrenia. Pfizer is sure looking to win big in RSV. Apart from its own advanced candidate, it has now put down $20 million upfront to net China's LianBio's rights to an RSV candidate. Elsewhere, Sanofi has plunked down €25 million to get three more NK cell engagers from its French biotech partner Innate Pharma.

And finally, yes, Argentina and Leo Messi have won the World Cup. As expected, celebrations ran overtime in Argentina, and the social airwaves have been flooded with pictures of celebrations across the country. Like this one. And all we can see is so many potential Covid cases.