Latest Posts

• Iterum’s Antibiotic for Super Bugs Falls Short in Phase 3, Shares Sink

  Iterum Therapeutics’ bid to bring patients a new antibiotic that’s safer than currently available drugs has fallen short of the main efficacy goal of a late-stage clinical trial. But the company is pinning its hopes on another Phase 3 study that... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/11/19

• Flagship’s Cellarity Aims to Advance Cell Behavior-Based Therapeutics

  The latest startup to emerge from Flagship Pioneering aims to change drug discovery by starting the process with a clear understanding of cell behavior.

  Cellarity—like many other startups looking to revamp the slow, costly process of developing new medicines—is using machine-learning... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/11/19

• KalVista Pharma Eye Drug Partnered With Merck Flunks Phase 2 Test

  A KalVista Pharmaceuticals eye drug at the center of a research collaboration with Merck has failed a mid-stage clinical trial.

  KalVista (NASDAQ: KALV) developed its drug, KVD001, to treat diabetic macular edema (DME), a complication of diabetes that can... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/10/19

• Zentalis Steps Out With $147M Raised to Develop “Tried and True” Small Molecules

  Zentalis Pharmaceuticals is banking on small molecules for cancer—leaving the “cool technologies” aside for a “tried and true” approach, says the CEO, who wants to let the science speak for itself.

  Since it was founded five years ago, the company has... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/10/19

• Scripps Research, AbbVie Expand Drug Discovery Deal Beyond Cancer

  The Scripps Research Institute and AbbVie have agreed to broaden an existing drug discovery agreement focused on cancer cell therapies to now encompass treatments for other kinds of disease.

  Scripps’s early-stage drug discovery division, Calibr, last year inked a big partnership... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/10/19

• Perceptive Unveils New $210M Fund to Invest in Early-Stage Biotechs

  Perceptive Advisors, an investment firm with a long track record of life science investing across all points of development, is now stepping up to pump money into companies at the earliest stages with a new $210 million venture capital fund.

  The... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/10/19

• Eying Cancer Combos, Sanofi to Splash Out $2.5B on San Diego’s Synthorx

  Synthorx is working to design new cytokine therapies for cancer using an “extended” genetic alphabet that could help avoid the shortcomings associated with earlier versions.

  Now French biopharma Sanofi has struck a deal to add the startup to its oncology business... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/9/19

• Aurinia Plans FDA Filing After Lupus Nephritis Drug Hits Phase 3 Goals

  Aurinia shares spiked last week after voclosporin, an immunosuppressant being tested in patients with lupus nephritis, met its primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 study.

  Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AUPH) is testing its drug, voclosporin, as a treatment for... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/9/19

• Merck Makes a Big Blood Cancer Bet With $2.7B Deal for ArQule

  Merck is acquiring cancer drug developer ArQule for $2.7 billion, a cash deal that brings it a promising early-stage compound that could challenge a blockbuster leukemia drug from AbbVie.

  According to terms of the agreement announced Monday, a Merck (NYSE:... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/9/19

• AstraZeneca Taps Gatehouse Bio to Identify Potential Drug Targets

  After joining AstraZeneca’s Boston Bio Hub incubator last year, Gatehouse Bio is now teaming up with the pharma company to identify potential drug targets in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

  Under the collaboration, expected to last multiple years, Gatehouse will use its... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/9/19

• 3 Takeaways From the Resurrection of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug

  The name of the experimental drug was heard so frequently in hotel hallways at the conference that it sounded like an incantation: aducanumab, aducanumab, aducanumab.

  Regardless of the eventual FDA verdict on Biogen’s once-bagged, now-revived anti-amyloid antibody, data from clinical... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/6/19

• Acadia Looks to Expand Drug Beyond Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis

  Acadia Pharmaceuticals revealed late-stage clinical data this week that could support bringing its drug for psychosis to a broader group of patients.

  The Acadia (NASDAQ: ACAD) drug pimavanserin (Nuplazid) is currently approved for treating psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease.... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/6/19

• FDA Puts Partial Hold on Tests of Ipsen Drug Acquired in $1B Deal

  Two clinical trials testing an Ipsen drug in rare connective tissue disorders have been placed on partial hold after safety concerns about chronic dosing of the compound emerged.

  The partial hold applies to patients under 14 years of age in Phase... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/6/19

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• Bio Roundup: Biogen at CTAD, Sage’s Stumble, Astellas’s $3B Offer & More

  It’s been a roller-coaster year for those hoping for new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, a leading cause of death with rising treatment costs and no clear answer yet as to its cause.

  Clearing proteins, such as amyloid and tau, was... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/6/19

• Biogen Points to Enrollment and Dosing to Explain Alzheimer’s Results

  Biogen revealed detailed results from its Alzheimer’s trial to a jam-packed room of eager conference attendees this week—and while some described it as a major advance in the field, others were less convinced.

  Samantha Budd Haeberlein, Biogen’s vice president of clinical... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/5/19

• FDA Rejects Enzyvant’s Regenerative Therapy for Rare Immune Disorder

  [Corrected 12:27 p.m. See below.] The FDA has rejected an experimental regenerative therapy that Enzyvant developed to restore immune system function in babies born with a rare disorder. The agency cited manufacturing issues, according to the company.

  Enzyvant received... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/5/19

• Sage Therapeutics Depression Drug Fails in Phase 3, Shares Fall 60%

  An experimental Sage Therapeutics drug intended to alleviate depression symptoms quickly failed to beat a placebo in a pivotal study, the company reported Thursday.

  Cambridge, MA-based Sage (NASDAQ: SAGE) has been testing its drug, SAGE-217, as a treatment for the... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/5/19

• As Alzheimer’s Conference Kicks Off, All Eyes Are on Biogen’s Drug

  It’s the “era of neuroscience”; an industry “turning point”; and “an amazing time”—superlatives were flowing freely as the 12th annual Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease congress (CTAD) kicked off in rainy San Diego late Wednesday afternoon.

  The atmosphere felt thick with... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/5/19

• 6 Experimental Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnostics Projects Get Funding Boost

  Scientists gathered this week in San Diego at the annual Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease Congress are focused on ways to treat the neurodegenerative disease, a task that continues to vex those working to develop potential medicines. Others are working on... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/4/19

• Civetta Therapeutics Unveils a Propeller Protein Plan, $53M in Funding

  New biotech company Civetta Therapeutics has closed a $53 million Series A financing round to develop drugs that target “propeller proteins” as a way of treating cancers and other diseases.

  Propeller proteins are found throughout nature, and the circularly arranged “blades”... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/4/19

• FDA Green Lights Sight Diagnostics’ Finger-Prick Blood Test

  Sight Diagnostics today announced it has received US FDA 510(k) clearance to use its patented OLO analyzer, which performs a complete blood count using two drops of blood.

  The FDA clearance gives hospital-run laboratories, diagnostic providers, and outpatient clinics the go-ahead... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/4/19

• Roche Notches FDA Nod in Lung Cancer, Amps Up Competition With Merck

  A Roche immunotherapy has won an additional FDA approval as a first-line treatment for non-small lung cancer, bolstering the product’s competitive stance versus one from Merck.

  The FDA approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for adults whose non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/4/19

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• GHO Capital Raises Over $1bn, Eyes Biotech Outsourcing Services

  GHO Capital will use the money raised to invest in healthcare, including outsourced service providers, which are seeing demand from smaller biotechs, according to a Jefferies analyst.

  GHO Capital raised €975 million ($1.1 billion), which exceeded its €800 million target, and... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/4/19

• Stemonix, Atomwise Team Up on Drug Discovery With MicroOrgans and AI

  Two venture-backed startups that have developed technologies intended to speed up the drug discovery and development process are combining those tools in a bid to achieve their goals together.

  San Francisco-based Atomwise has developed deep learning techniques for use in structure-based... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/3/19

• Veracyte Aims to Expand Diagnostics Reach With $50M NanoString Deal

  [Updated 12/4/19, 4:01 p.m. ET. See below.] Veracyte, a company whose tests help physicians make treatment decisions, is adding technology from NanoString to the fold to expand its diagnostic capabilities.

  South San Francisco-based Veracyte (NASDAQ: VCYT) announced Tuesday... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/3/19

• A Safer CRISPR? Cyrus, Broad Institute Look to Quell Concerns

  Cyrus Biotechnology and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have teamed up to make gene editing with the CRISPR-Cas9 technology safer.

  The multi-target collaboration, specific details of which are not being disclosed, aims to address longstanding concerns surrounding gene editing:... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/3/19

• Astellas Bets On Gene Therapy With $3B Audentes Acquisition Offer

  Japanese drug giant Astellas Pharma announced late Monday it has agreed to buy Audentes Therapeutics, which is developing gene therapies for rare neuromuscular diseases.

  It’s an all-cash deal worth $3 billion, with the Astellas offer of $60 per share representing a... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/3/19

• Neurocrine Inks $50M Xenon Pharma Deal to Expand Into Epilepsy

  Neurocrine Biosciences is paying $30 million cash and taking a $20 million equity stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals to license a clinical-stage epilepsy drug and collaborate on other potential treatments for the seizure-causing brain disorder.

  The Xenon (NASDAQ: XENE) deal is the... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo12/2/19

• IFM Lands $55.5M to Launch NewCo Quattro and Discovery Incubator

  IFM Therapeutics has raised $55.5 million to launch its third drug subsidiary as well as an incubator, both of which are focused on developing new therapies for inflammatory diseases and cancers.

  Those endeavors will be led by a familiar face. Boston-based... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan12/2/19

• Deep 6 AI Adds $17M To Advance Clinical Trial Recruitment Software

  Software startup Deep 6 AI has developed a system that analyzes a range of patient health records to accelerate the process of identifying candidates for clinical trial recruitment—a longstanding bottleneck in the drug development process.

  The Pasadena, CA-based company, founded in... Read more »

  Melissa Fassbender12/2/19

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