So far this year four privately held companies have made the transition to trading on the public markets.
By month’s end, five more are anticipated to join the class of 2020 initial public offerings—and four of those are in life sciences,... Read more »
Company news slowed somewhat this week, perhaps as some took the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday away from the office and others recovered from back-to-back meetings and late nights at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. However, a new coronavirus... Read more »
Perhaps the most talked-about news at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference this week was a new startup that launched with $200 million and an ambitious claim that its first drug would be approved within five years, and 10 in total within... Read more »
[Updated 1/15/2020, 8:51 a.m. See below.] As the nation grapples with the ongoing opioid crisis, an FDA advisory panel on Tuesday unanimously voted against recommending approval of a Nektar Therapeutics painkiller that would add a new compound to the... Read more »
A letter signed by 215 people involved in the biopharma industry, including CEOs and investors, published Wednesday promised to put the “interests of patients first.”
Six CEOs, including five who run public companies, co-authored the letter. Signatories agreed to what they... Read more »
In the week leading up to Christmas, six drugs won FDA approvals. The decisions covered insomnia, migraine, and several different forms of cancer.
The FDA’s final tally for the year totaled 48 new drug approvals. If you’re keeping score, that compares... Read more »
Intrexon has spent two decades designing and building DNA sequences for applications in healthcare, food, energy, and the environment. Going forward, the synthetic biology company will focus exclusively on human health under the name of a subsidiary whose lead cell therapies... Read more »
As national politics dominates the news in the final days of the decade, we at Xconomy are wrapping up the year with some big moves by the FDA, including an approval of the first drug OK’d reduce heart risk in patients... Read more »
Zafgen stumbled in clinical trials testing its experimental therapies for metabolic diseases. Going forward, it will have a new name, new management, and a mitochondrial disorder drug from another company.
Boston-based Zafgen (NASDAQ: ZFGN) has entered a merger agreement with... Read more »
If you’re keeping track, FDA drug approvals have been on a tear in the past month with several decisions coming well ahead of their targeted dates. And then there’s Sarepta Therapeutics.
Late Thursday, the FDA announced approval of the Cambridge,... Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
[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 »
[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 »
Bristol-Myers Squibb this week completed its acquisition of Celgene, a $74 billion deal that creates a pharmaceutical juggernaut. And all it took was the largest asset sale ever required by federal antitrust regulators.
As the Federal Trade Commission reviewed Bristol’s (NYSE:... Read more »
Drug pricing debates and uncertainty associated with Brexit are the issues most likely to keep biopharmaceutical executives awake at night. Nevertheless, senior figures remain optimistic about the industry’s prospects in 2020. These are among the major findings of a survey of... Read more »
Lung injuries connected to the use of electronic cigarettes have topped 2,000 and killed 40 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s still unclear whether the cases are tied to legally sold products or devices modified by... Read more »
The list of activities our smartphones can control grows daily. Transfer money? It’s simple. Order groceries? That, too. Turn off the bedroom lights? Check.
How about contraception?
Advancing new forms of birth control is a central focus at Daré Bioscience (NASDAQ:... Read more »
These are heady times for neuroscience research. Startups developing new approaches to brain disorders are raising money to advance their discoveries toward clinical trials. One failed neuro drug is getting another shot.
On Nov. 19 in San Francisco, we’ll... Read more »
During the state of the union address this year, President Trump pledged to end HIV transmission within the next decade. A key part of that plan is an HIV prevention drug made by Gilead Sciences. That drug has now become the... Read more »
AstraZeneca says it will establish centers for drug research and artificial intelligence development in China. The pharmaceutical giant has also set up a $1 billion fund to foster biotech innovation in that country.
The move—which was announced at the China International... Read more »
