As we take our first steps into February, dealmaking activity has quietened down from the boom in recent weeks, but there was still another major M&A announced. 

Seattle Genetics has signed a $614 million deal to acquire Cascadian Therapeutics. Through the deal, Seattle will gain the phase 2 breast cancer therapeutic tucatinib. The HER2 inhibitor was successful in a recent phase 1b trial and is now being tested alongside Genentech’s HER2-specific antibody Herceptin and the chemotherapy drug capecitabine for treatment-resistant breast cancer.  

Also in the oncology area, Bridgebio has licensed the phase 2 drug infigratinib from Novartis, which it was developing to treat bile duct cancer and potentially urothelial cancer, but abandoned. Bridgebio will take over the phase 2 development of the FGFR inhibitor in bile duct cancer in patients with FGFR2 fusions, and also plans to investigate it in clinical trials to treat dwarfism driven by FGFR activity. The drug will be developed by Bridgebio’s subsidiary QED Therapeutics, which is receiving $65 million in seed funding.