Frank Vinluan
Frank is a business journalist with more than a decade of experience covering various aspects of 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. Frank has a bachelor’s degree in history from Carleton College and a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield.
Recent posts
Cross breeding plants is a time-tested practice for producing hybrids with higher crop yields. But finding the plant parents with the genetics that will generate the best hybrid takes time. Hi... Read more »
Foodies in New York City may not realize it, but some of the tasty kale, bok choy, and other leafy greens they buy trace their origins to an industrial park in... Read more »
Nearly two years ago, Versant Ventures used some of its new $400 million fund to set up a drug discovery unit in Europe. The goal was to produce drugs and... Read more »
Marinus Pharmaceuticals says its treatment for postpartum depression (PPD) is showing encouraging results in a mid-stage study—enough to continue clinical development. But it’s unclear whether the results are statistically significant or... Read more »
An experimental attention deficit hyperactivity drug developed by SuperNus Pharmaceuticals has met the main goals of two late-stage studies, bolstering the company’s case that it could provide an alternative to... Read more »
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from investors and pharmaceutical partners with compounds it developed to target cells that drive cancer growth. But after a series of clinical trial... Read more »
Auris Health has already received regulatory clearance to sell its medical robot in the U.S. Now it has $220 million in funding to help it place the technology in the hands... Read more »
Roche is acquiring San Diego startup Jecure Therapeutics, with hopes of turning Jecure’s early research into a drug or drugs that treat the liver disease NASH.
Through its South San Francisco,... Read more »
Vertex Pharmaceuticals already dominates the landscape of treatments for cystic fibrosis, and its position got even better today.
Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) said that a cocktail of three of its cystic... Read more »
The FDA has ordered Zafgen to suspend a mid-stage study testing its experimental diabetes drug, an apparent precautionary move.
A clinical hold halts patient enrollment and also stops already enrolled patients... Read more »
PellePharm now has a partner to finance late-stage clinical tests of its experimental treatment for a rare skin cancer that has no FDA-approved drug treatment.
Denmark-based LEO Pharma has agreed to... Read more »
The food we buy in grocery stores and restaurants has a story to tell about where it came from and each step it took on its journey to your dinner table.... Read more »
We’ll soon find out if Wall Street has the appetite for investing in alternative meat technology.
Beyond Meat, a maker of plant-based meat products, has filed for an IPO. The El... Read more »
Thanksgiving is around the corner and this week delivered a bounty of deals that have a number of life science companies expressing their thanks a little early.
One deal saw a... Read more »
[Updated, 11/15/18, 2:06 p.m. ET. See below.] Arena Pharmaceuticals continued its comeback Thursday, netting a whopping $800 million up front in a deal that hands United Therapeutics another experimental... Read more »
The shaking, tremors, and loss of muscle control in some movement disorders can be traced to misfiring neurons. Cadent Therapeutics has developed a drug intended to help those neurons send signals... Read more »
Celgene’s collaboration with Dragonfly Therapeutics is less than 18 months old, but the pharmaceutical company is already expanding the alliance.
Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) is paying Waltham, MA-based Dragonfly $50 million... Read more »
Cells have a built-in way of breaking down damaged or unneeded proteins. Kymera Therapeutics is trying to harness this process as a therapy—using it to get rid of disease-causing proteins. As... Read more »
Each new technology has a story behind it. On Dec. 5, our Xchange Forum will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how some of them aim to transform healthcare.
Xconomy’s San Francisco... Read more »
Treatments for patients who have atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat, include pills that take time to work, or hospital-based procedures. InCarda Therapeutics aims to offer an alternative: a fast-acting inhalable... Read more »
