Frank Vinluan
Xconomy Editor Frank Vinluan is a business journalist with experience covering technology and life sciences. Based in Raleigh, he was a staff writer at the Triangle Business Journal covering technology, biotechnology and energy before joining MedCityNews.com as North Carolina bureau chief. Prior to moving to North Carolina’s Research Triangle in 2007 he held business reporting positions at The Des Moines Register and The Seattle Times.
Recent posts
An itching drug that was a key part of the merger of Menlo Therapeutics and Foamix Pharmaceuticals has failed two late-stage studies, leading to a halt on further development of the... Read more »
GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to invest $250 million in infectious disease specialist Vir Biotechnology to launch a COVID-19 R&D alliance that the companies say could advance two experimental therapies to clinical testing... Read more »
The global economic crash means the window for initial public stock offerings is all but closed but that didn’t stop Zentalis Phamaceuticals from pushing through. The clinical-stage drug developer priced its... Read more »
Pandion Therapeutics emerged in 2018 aiming to reach clinic trials in two years testing its biologic drugs in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. The company now has $80 million to support a... Read more »
Cameron Hewitt’s family celebrates the anniversary of her life not once, but twice yearly: Besides her September birthday, they commemorate a day in March—the anniversary of two-year-old Cameron receiving the gene... Read more »
An experimental Axsome Therapeutics drug for treatment-resistant depression has fallen short of the main goal of a late-stage test. But the company says the pill is showing enough promise to warrant... Read more »
Sanofi is joining the array of companies pursuing a COVID-19 vaccine based on messenger RNA (mRNA), an experimental genetic technology intended to coax the body’s cells into producing proteins that treat... Read more »
Finding and enrolling patients for clinical trials is always challenging. The coronavirus pandemic has made it nearly impossible.
Fallout from the spread of COVID-19 infections led several companies to declare this... Read more »
A multiple sclerosis drug that came to Bristol Myers Squibb via its acquisition of Celgene last year was approved Thursday but don’t expect it to reach patients any time soon. The... Read more »
After years of research, technology for silencing a gene—stopping it from producing a disease-causing protein—has reached patients. AstraZeneca is now angling for a position in this burgeoning field through an alliance... Read more »
CytomX Therapeutics is teaming up with Astellas Pharma in a research and development alliance focused on developing new cancer immunotherapies based on its antibody technology.
Under deal terms announced late Monday,... Read more »
A type 2 diabetes drug marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly has fallen short of a bid to expand the medicine’s approval to patients who have type 1 diabetes.
The... Read more »
The financial markets are tumbling, event cancellations are mounting, and sports leagues are suspending their seasons. March Madness is in full swing but not in any way that... Read more »
The global economy is in tumult as the new coronavirus sparks financial contagion but drug developer Imara pressed ahead with its IPO anyway, raising $75.2 million in its stock market debut.... Read more »
Reuse and recycle is more than an environmental slogan. It’s also a succinct description of how cells deal with old or damaged proteins. Kymera Therapeutics is developing drugs that use this... Read more »
An experimental Acceleron Pharma drug for rare neuromuscular diseases has failed to distance itself from a placebo in a mid-stage study, spelling the end for that program.
Acceleron (NASDAQ: XLRN)... Read more »
A Cushing’s disease drug whose rights Novartis sold to Italy-based Recordati last year now has FDA approval.
Cushing’s disease is a rare disorder in which the adrenal glands make too... Read more »
Cell therapies and antibody drugs grab much of the attention and investment in cancer drug development but the scientists at Zentalis Pharmaceuticals contend that there’s a place for small molecules too.... Read more »
The assets of Melinta Therapeutics will go to creditor Deerfield Management after no bidders for the company emerged, the antibiotics developer announced Wednesday.
Under a court-approved Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, any... Read more »
When Novartis signed on as a partner to Pliant Therapeutics last fall, it also agreed to eventually take an equity stake in the smaller biotech. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant made good... Read more »
