Daily Brief United States: Soybean Active Contract, Immix Biopharma Inc and more

• Soybean ranks as the most traded crop globally. It comprises 10% of the total value of global agriculture trade.
• The Americas comprise >80% of total global production. China mops up ~60% of global imports and is primarily used to feed massive livestock.
• Soybean is more prone to shocks from geopolitical disruptions. Weather also impacts Beans. El Niño favours Soybean yields.

Immix has announced that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation (ODD) to CAR-T asset NXC-201 for amyloid light chain amyloidosis (ALA). This occurred approximately a month after the announced ODD for multiple myeloma (MM), the other indication that Immix is pursuing with NXC-201. The benefits of ODD include seven years of US market exclusivity post approval, tax credits for qualified clinical trials and exemption from the Prescription Drug User Fee (c $3m for a new drug). ODD is issued to drugs/biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases/conditions that affect fewer than 200k people in the US. Achieving ODD in both MM and ALA marks an important development for the progress of NXC-201, which has shown encouraging signs on both the clinical and regulatory fronts. We believe that the next readout (expected in September 2023) from the ongoing NEXICART-1 trial could be a significant catalyst for the company.