Ben is Xconomy's Deputy Editor, Biotechnology. He is a seasoned business journalist that comes to Xconomy after a nine-year stint at The Deal, where he covered corporate transactions in industries ranging from biotech to auto parts and gaming. Most recently, Ben was The Deal’s senior healthcare writer, focusing on acquisitions, venture financings, IPOs, partnerships and industry trends in the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics and med tech spaces. Ben wrote features on creative biotech financing models, analyses of middle market and large cap buyouts, spin-offs and restructurings, and enterprise pieces on legal issues such as pay-for-delay agreements and the Affordable Care Act. Before switching to the healthcare beat, Ben was The Deal's senior bankruptcy reporter, covering the restructurings of the Texas Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, GM, Delphi, Trump Entertainment Resorts and Blockbuster, among others. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in English from Binghamton University.
Catch Duchenne Patient Power, Phil Sharp & More Next Week at The Broad
How did Phil Sharp, a kid from a small farm in Kentucky, become a Nobel prize winner and one of the godfathers of the biotech industry? How did Christine McSherry turn... Read more »
Akcea, Fresh Off C-Suite Shakeup, Dishes Heart Drug to Pfizer for $250M
Pfizer this morning bought an experimental heart disease drug from Akcea therapeutics, the first move made by the Ionis Pharmaceuticals spinout since the company overhauled its management team last month.
Pfizer... Read more »
Bio Roundup: PARP Progress, A New Commish, IPO-Palooza & More
It’s been a strange up and down ride for PARP inhibitors, a relatively new class of cancer drugs.
Named for the tumor protein they target, PARPs rebounded after a big clinical... Read more »
ESMO 2019: PARP and Prostate, SeaGen’s Win, KRAS Update & More
The European Society for Medical Oncology meeting has wrapped up in Barcelona, the last major clinical cancer conference until December’s annual ASH meeting for blood diseases. We’ve highlighted a few top... Read more »
Enanta Steps Forward in NASH Race, With Unclear Prospects
Enanta Pharmaceuticals late Wednesday became the latest of a number of companies to tout an emerging potential therapy for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, the fatty liver disease that is fast becoming a global... Read more »
MedCo Preps for FDA Filing as Cholesterol Drug Clears Last Two Tests
The Medicines Co. this morning inched closer to bringing a twice-yearly cholesterol-lowering drug to market, touting a positive result in two more Phase 3 studies.
Without providing details, MedCo (NASDAQ: MDCO... Read more »
Flagship’s Omega Aims to Take Epigenetic Drugs a Step Further
A biotech startup called Omega Therapeutics debuts this morning touting a new approach to developing medicines based on epigenetics, a field of research that has tantalized drug makers for years but... Read more »
Bio Roundup: Award Winners, Lung Data, Dems on Drug Pricing & More
For decades, advanced lung cancer was a quick death sentence. That’s no longer a given, thanks in part to the arrival of immunotherapy. If a medical meeting in Barcelona this... Read more »
Phil Sharp, CRISPR’ing the Heart & the Duchenne Data Gap on Oct. 17
Phil Sharp is one of the godfathers of biotech. He’s an MIT biologist, Nobel laureate and, as a Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) co-founder, one of the people responsible for turning Kendall... Read more »
Herceptin Inventors, Immunology Pioneers Take Home 2019 Lasker Awards
This year’s Lasker Awards, the US’s most prestigious biomedical honor, are going to five scientists whose work led to a critical breast cancer treatment and significant basic research advances that have... Read more »
As New CEO of Cerevel, Coles Moves From One Neuro Startup to Another
Tony Coles, the biotech veteran who once steered Onyx Pharmaceuticals into a $10 billion buyout, has left one neurology startup to join another.
Coles on Monday was named the CEO of... Read more »
At Big Lung Cancer Meeting, Lights Shine on KRAS, Drug Combos & More
The treatment landscape for lung cancer has shifted significantly over the past few years, and more changes could be on the way. At the World Conference on Lung Cancer in... Read more »
With FDA’s Eye on JAK Drugs, Concert Moves One Ahead For Hair Loss
Despite the safety concerns that have recently emerged for class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors, their reach continues to grow. The latest example comes from Concert Pharmaceuticals, which is racing... Read more »
As Cholesterol Drug Aces Big Test, MedCo CEO Open to Flexible Pricing
The Medicines Co. (NASDAQ: MDCO) announced last week that its cholesterol-lowering medicine inclisiran, meant to be taken just twice a year, had passed a key test but offered no details.... Read more »
$5.8B for Nothing: AbbVie Shelves Stemcentrx Drug After Latest Flop
AbbVie has officially waved the white flag on the cancer drug that triggered its $5.8 billion buyout of Stemcentrx a few years ago.
North Chicago, IL-based AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) said... Read more »
Celgene Adds Cell Therapies From Immatics With Bristol Sale in Sight
Even as its sale to Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) inches closer to completion, Celgene—long known for its web of biotech partnerships—has inked another alliance.
Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG)... Read more »
Retrophin Sinks as Drug “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli Co-Invented Fails
[Corrected, 8/23/19, see below] Retrophin, the drug developer founded by jailed former biotech executive Martin Shkreli, has failed its first big test.
The San Diego-based company’s experimental drug fosmetpantotenate... Read more »
FDA Rejects Sarepta’s Second Duchenne Drug, Citing Safety Concerns
[Updated, 8/20/19, see below] Sarepta Therapeutics won one of the most dramatic and controversial drug approvals in the history of the FDA a few years ago. It didn’t have... Read more »
Four New Drugs Are Around the Corner. Here’s What You Need to Know.
[Updated, 3:40 pm ET, see below] The Food and Drug Administration approved 59 new drugs last year, a record for the agency which over the years has swung back... Read more »
Chasing Blueprint, Deciphera Plans FDA Filing for GI Cancer Drug
[Updated, 11:04 am ET, see below] Deciphera Pharmaceuticals this morning announced plans to seek FDA approval of a cancer medicine that treats a deadly type of tumor that forms... Read more »
Recent posts
Underwriters and Partners
Xconomy Insight · Special Report
How to Jump 5 Unforeseen Hurdles to Biotech Success – Startup Sourcebook
Insights, wisdom, and inspiration on what it takes
Xconomy Insight · Webinar
The New Era of Emerging Therapies Webinar Series
Potential cures and treatments for diseases are on the horizon for a growing number of patients, thanks to recent breakthroughs in CRISPR gene-editing technologies and in cell and gene therapy.
Sponsored · Whitepaper
Monitoring Solutions for Pharma-CRO/CMO Partnerships to Maintain Quality & Timelines
Implementing electronic solutions for risk mitigation
XiltriX
Investment in Wisconsin startups reaches new record total
Tax credits help tech innovators attract capital, fuel growth
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
Featured Event
Xconomy Presents: What’s Next in Neuroscience Therapies
November 19, 2019
Deal of the Day
$2.1B
UCB/Ra Pharmaceuticals
Business, life sciences, and technology news — covering Boston, Seattle, San Diego, Detroit/Ann Arbor, San Francisco, New York, Raleigh-Durham, Boulder/Denver, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and beyond.
© 2007-2019, Xconomy, Inc. Xconomy is a registered service mark of Xconomy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Website development support from Andrew Koyfman with design support from Rob Hunter.