Latest Posts

• Roche Enlists Dyno to Bring AI to Next-Generation Liver, CNS Gene Therapies

  Roche made a splash with its acquisition of Spark Therapeutics, whose Luxturna, a gene therapy for an inherited form of vision loss, was the first such therapy to win FDA approval. Now the Swiss pharmaceutical giant is looking to bolster its... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan10/14/20

• Bio Roundup: CRISPR Kudos, Bristol Myers’s Buy, RNAi Alliance & More

  It’s October: a time of days growing shorter, leaves changing color, and phone calls in the wee hours that rouse scientists from slumber notifying them they’ve won the highest honor in their fields.

  This week, the 2020 Nobel Prize in physiology... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan10/9/20

• BIO Launches ‘Biotech Votes’ Campaign to Encourage Registration and Informed Voting

  Science is the way out of this pandemic—and scientific breakthroughs are on the ballot on November 3. To help you get ready for Election Day, BIO’s initiative Biotech Votes has resources to help you get registered and get informed.

  First, make... Read more »

  Editors10/8/20

• Bio Roundup: MESO’s Miss, Pfizer’s Cancer Bet, Vaccine Promise & More

  Amid the bombast of Tuesday’s presidential debate, viewers caught some discussion about the response to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. In the crosstalk, the president made an unsupported claim that we are weeks away from having... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan10/2/20

• With Phase 2 Data in Hand, Ovid Eyes Multiple Pivotal Trials for Epilepsy Drug

  Ovid Therapeutics and Takeda Pharmaceutical joined forces three years ago to develop a small molecule into a potential epilepsy drug. That research is starting to pay off as the companies now look ahead to pivotal studies testing that compound in several... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/30/20

• Bio Roundup: Grail Acquisition, Libra’s Launch, Tau Trial Results & More

  In biotech, you can go home again. Four years ago, Illumina spun out cancer diagnostics startup Grail. This week, the gene sequencing giant announced it is acquiring Grail in an $8 billion cash and stock deal.

  Grail set out with the... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/25/20

• Xconomy Awards On-Demand ‘Meet the Finalists’ Webcast Series Continues This Week

  The 2020 National Xconomy Awards complimentary two-week, 11-part, on-demand Meet the Finalists daily webcast series continues this Tuesday and Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. Registration is complimentary and includes access to a networking app with already more than 600 life science... Read more »

  Editors9/21/20

• Bio Roundup: SeaGen Scores, Dyne’s Debut, Microbiome Moves & More

  Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day has spoken openly about acquisitions as a way to build up the company’s drug pipeline. This week, it made its biggest buy yet.

  The $21 billion Immunomedics acquisition brings to Gilead a cancer drug that many... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/18/20

• Moderna CMO Talks COVID-19 Vaccine at the Xcelerate Keynote Series

  The Xcelerate Keynote Series has added Moderna CMO Tal Zaks to the expert lineup of speakers set to present next Monday, Sept. 21.

  As you likely know, Moderna is one of the front-runners in the COVID-19 vaccine race, and we look... Read more »

  Editors9/16/20

• Join Xconomy Next Week at the Virtual Xcelerate Keynote Series at Biotech Week Boston

  Presented by Xconomy, the online Xcelerate Keynote Series at Biotech Week Boston on Monday, Sept. 21 places a spotlight on life science leaders who are breaking new ground with methods and solutions in R&D, planning, and production that are improving patient... Read more »

  Editors9/14/20

• Bio Roundup: COVID-19 Pact, Gavreto Approval, Generative Biology & More

  COVID-19 research efforts are often characterized as a race between companies, a description that reflects the urgency to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The description is not quite right. A race has one winner and public health officials have... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/11/20

• Bio Roundup: Pharma M&A, AbbVie’s Cancer Bet, Biofourmis Bucks & More

  Labor Day is just around the corner and many people are looking forward to a last chance to celebrate the waning days of summer. But ahead of the holiday weekend, biopharmaceutical companies were hard at work closing deals.

  Food conglomerate Nestlé... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/4/20

• Early Bird Sale for Xcelerate at Biotech Week Boston Ends This Friday

  Don’t miss out on savings for this year’s online Xcelerate Keynote Series at Biotech Week Boston – our early bird sale ends this Friday!

  Speakers include:

  • Jeff Baker – Deputy Director, Office of Biotechnology Products, FDA
  • Michelle McMurry-Heath – President & CEO, BIO
  ... Read more »

  Editors8/31/20

Load More News ›

• Biotech Roundup: FDA Culpa, Tricida Trips, Freenome’s Funding & More

  Among the casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic: the credibility of government agencies entrusted with protecting public health.

  The FDA this week granted emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment for infection by the novel coronavirus. FDA Commissioner Stephen... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/28/20

• FDA Adds Plasma as 2nd COVID-19 Treatment Under Emergency Guidelines

  The FDA has authorized the use of plasma from people who have recovered from infection by the novel coronavirus as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a move widely perceived as influenced by political pressure given the lack of clear evidence... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/24/20

• Astellas Reports Third Patient Death in Audentes Gene Therapy Study

  A third patient who received an experimental Audentes gene therapy for a rare neuromuscular disorder has died, a disclosure that comes two months after the deaths of two patients led the FDA to place a clinical hold on the study.

  San... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/21/20

• Bio Roundup: J&J Buyout, BioMarin Rebuffed, Poseida on Hold & More

  While business is historically slow in August, this month seems to be bucking the trend, just like so many other unexpected developments in 2020. Perhaps life sciences executives have been less distracted by summer excursions this year in a world in... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/21/20

• Harmony Bio and Inhibrx Raise Combined $247M in Public Market Debuts

  Two biotechs this week topped the $100 million mark in their respective initial public offerings, both of which were able to offer more shares than planned. One, a company with nearly nine month’s-worth of revenue from a newly commercialized drug and... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/20/20

• Bio Roundup: Seres Soars, MesoBlast Vote, Duchenne Decision & More

  The road of drug development is rife with detours and disappointments but Seres Therapeutics showed this week that course corrections can work. Four years after its microbiome therapy failed in a mid-stage study, the company reported early positive data from a... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/14/20

• Bio Roundup: A Telehealth Combo, FDA’s BCMA OK, Biogen’s Bet & More

  The novel coronavirus has driven the pharmaceutical industry to upend its research priorities. Big Pharma companies are focusing on vaccine development and a slew of biotechs are testing compounds, previously intended for a wide range of indications, as potential COVID-19 treatments.... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/7/20

• Bio Roundup: Cerevel’s Shell, Thrive’s Rise, Drug Price Drama & More

  The biotech IPO market is buzzing but Cerevel Therapeutics is showing that there’s more than one path to the public markets. This week the neuroscience drug developer reached a deal to merge with publicly traded Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp II.

  If... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan7/31/20

• Bio Roundup: Jazz Drug OK’d, Gilead’s Bet, Moderna Patent Decision & More

  EQRx launched in January during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference with an audacious pledge to create 10 new drugs in as many years and then sell them at “dramatically” lower prices than existing medicines. But it offered few specifics about how... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo7/24/20

Load More News ›

• Jazz Pharma Gets FDA Nod for New Drug to Treat Narcolepsy Symptoms

  [Corrected 7/23/20, 10:13 am. See below.] Jazz Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval for a narcolepsy drug that it has developed as a lower-sodium successor to its biggest moneymaker, a treatment that was first approved in 2002 to reduce attacks of... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo7/22/20

• Bio Roundup: Moderna Publishes, Life Science Cash, AdComm Votes & More

  If it seems like biotech investments have defied the financial headwinds of the pandemic, maybe it’s because they have. In the second quarter, 16 of the top 25 largest early-stage venture capital deals were investments in life science companies.

  The figures... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan7/17/20

• Last Chance for Xconomy Awards Nominations – Deadline is Friday, July 17

  Have you had your say yet? The 2020 National Xconomy Awards represent the very best our life science industry has to offer. It is our privilege to recognize emerging companies and technologies, highlight groundbreaking business collaborations and strategies, celebrate corporate responsibility... Read more »

  Editors7/15/20

• Bio Roundup: Blackstone’s Billions, Biogen Finishes Filing, Novavax at “Warp Speed” & More

  Cash flowed throughout the life sciences ecosystem this week as Blackstone (NYSE: BX) raised a record-setting life sciences fund, companies of all stages announced new financings, and money continued to find its way to those working on efforts to treat... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo7/10/20

• NFlection Looks to Erase NF1 Tumors With Drug That Only Goes Skin Deep

  The first drug for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is available to patients following the FDA’s approval of the AstraZeneca treatment earlier this year. Biotech startup NFlection Therapeutics is vying to be runner-up, but its founders say they can eventually win out... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan7/9/20

• Novavax Gets $1.6B in Operation Warp Speed Funding for COVID-19 Vaccine

  The federal government’s Operation Warp Speed has made its biggest financing award yet, promising $1.6 billion to a Maryland biotech to help advance its investigational COVID-19 vaccine and ready millions of doses in preparation for its possible success.

  Gaithersburg, MD-based Novavax,... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo7/7/20

• PacBio CEO, CFO Plan Retirements and More People on the Move

  Here’s a look back at some of the life science industry’s executive appointments, departures, and retirements from recent weeks:

  —Pacific Biosciences (NASDAQ: PACB) CEO Michael Hunkapiller and Chief Financial Officer Susan Barnes are retiring.

  —Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) appointed... Read more »

  Editors7/7/20

• Bio Roundup: Gilead’s Pionyr Grab, Relay to IPO, Unicorn Sana & More

  Uncertainty related to the continued spread of the pandemic continued to consume most of the oxygen in the room this week, but life sciences news outside of that arena continued apace.

  Once considered all but shuttered, the IPO market again saw... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo6/26/20

• CSL Behring Bolsters Hemophilia Lineup With Deal for uniQure’s Gene Therapy

  CSL Behring is joining the chase for a genetic treatment for hemophilia by acquiring a uniQure gene therapy that’s already in late-stage testing.

  King of Prussia, PA-based CSL Behring is paying $450 million up front to acquire the uniQure (NASDAQ: QURE... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan6/25/20

Read More Posts ›