Latest Posts

• Bio Roundup: Nobel Prizes, Placebo Effect Rises, ICER’s Fire & More

  Congrats to this year’s Nobel Prize winners in medicine… although, we have to ask: For the US researchers who are honored, isn’t there something crushing about a call in the middle of the night from Sweden, interrupting a dream about... Read more »

  Alex Lash10/11/19

• The Placebo Effect Is Hobbling New Psychiatric Drugs. What Can Stop It?

  Sixteen years ago, Kim Witczak’s husband died by his own hand, turning her world upside down. He had just begun taking an antidepressant off-label for insomnia, and she believes an undisclosed side effect of the drug drove him to suicide. Compelled... Read more »

  Alex Lash10/10/19

• Five Years After Y Combinator First Admits Biotechs, They’re Dug In

  Five years ago, the big tech incubator Y Combinator started to welcome life sciences companies into its sizable startup classes, which had previously nurtured entrepreneurs in information technology almost exclusively.

  That opening to biotech startups in 2014 was controversial at the... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey10/9/19

• LabFellows Looks to Become “Operating System” For Life Sciences Cos.

  [Updated 7:21 p.m. 10/11. See below.] Scientists, no matter how sexy the research they’re conducting, aren’t immune from the administrative minutiae of office life.

  Such tasks steal time away from researchers’ main objectives. However, that wasn’t the problem San... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo10/8/19

• Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to 3 Who Showed How Cells Sense Oxygen Levels

  Oxygen’s importance in cellular processes has long been known. But the work to understand how cells sense and adapt to changes in oxygen levels has led to medical insights and potential treatments for anemia, cancer, and more—and today, it has turned... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan10/7/19

• Precision IBD Rebrands as Prometheus and Strikes R&D Deal With Takeda

  This summer Nestlé Health Science sold Prometheus Laboratories, a gastrointestinal disease diagnostics unit it had acquired eight years prior, to a low-profile San Diego biotech called Precision IBD.

  About a month ago, Precision—a drug and diagnostic developer that’s focused, as... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo10/7/19

• 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 setback in 2011 and have been at the center of... Read more »

  Ben Fidler10/4/19

• After Brain Cancer Drug Fails, Tocagen to Cut More Than Half of Staff

  Following the late-stage failure of its lead program, an experimental gene therapy treatment for the most aggressive form of brain cancer, Tocagen will reduce its workforce by 65 percent, the company said Thursday.

  The layoffs will result in a staff of... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo10/3/19

• Nuance Spinout Cerence Vies With Tech Giants in Voice-AI for Auto

  A new mobility company, Cerence, is making its public-market debut Wednesday, and its first CEO, Sanjay Dhawan, says he’s been meeting with more than 50 investors in recent weeks to talk up its prospects.

  Cerence is a spinout from pioneering... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey10/2/19

• Viscient Bio Proposes Organovo Merger to Tackle NASH and Go Beyond

  [Updated 5:58 p.m. PT. See below.] Organovo, a company developing technology to 3D print human tissue, announced two months ago that its dwindling cash is leading it to explore options that include merging with another firm. The San... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan10/2/19

• Molecular Assemblies Raises $12M to Advance Enzymatic DNA Synthesis

  Biologists have been using artificially created DNA, produced through what’s known as chemical DNA synthesis, as a research tool for decades.

  Now, as demand for engineered DNA rises, a handful of startups are vying to become the go-to provider for researchers... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo10/1/19

• 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 stories for you.

  Amid all the fuss over cell, gene,... Read more »

  Ben Fidler10/1/19

• At Venture Summit, 3 Takeaways For Entrepreneurs From VC Phil Black

  No one would argue that San Diego is overflowing with venture capitalists in the way, say, the San Francisco Bay Area is. In fact, the region’s relative dearth of investors is often bemoaned by local entrepreneurs. But, at least once yearly,... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/27/19

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• Biotech Roundup: Vaping Toll Rises, NASH News, Akcea Shakeup & More

  Lung injuries linked to electronic cigarettes have topped 800 cases, including 12 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials aren’t sure whether the injuries are from legally sold products made by companies such as... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/27/19

• Medallia Acquires Hospitality Software Startup Zingle for $42M

  [Updated 2:40 p.m. 9/27. See below.] Zingle, a startup whose software is used by hospitality, travel, and retail industries to more easily and quickly connect with their customers via messaging, has been acquired for about $42 million in cash... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/26/19

• Meissa Scores $30M to Test Vaccine for Dangerous Respiratory Virus

  No vaccine is yet available for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes lung infections that, while usually mild, can be deadly for very young children. Biotech startup Meissa Vaccines, which aims to fill that treatment gap, announced today it raised... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey9/26/19

• Report: IPO Activity Picking Back Up Following Quiet, Volatile Q3

  While the headlines may be dominated by news of WeWork putting its IPO on hold after reports about its questionable corporate governance, the overall initial public offering market is doing just fine. So far, 127 US companies went public in the... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/25/19

• Akcea Shakes Up Management and Shows Three Executives the Door

  Akcea Therapeutics has already been struggling to turn its two products into commercial winners. Now it will have to do so during a massive management transition.

  Akcea (NASDAQ: AKCA) said Monday that CEO Paula Soteropoulos, president Sarah Boyce and chief... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/23/19

• An Entrepreneur’s Quest to Make Seattle a Genome Sciences Hub

  Ivan Liachko turned postdoctoral research at the University of Washington into a company whose genomics tools are now found in laboratories researching human, animal, and plant health. His firm, Phase Genomics, was one of the first startups to come out of... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/23/19

• Q&A: New Rady Dean Ordóñez on School’s Growth, Startups, Ethics & More

  Under Bob Sullivan, the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego matured into its teenage years. Sullivan became Rady’s founding dean in 2003, ahead of the fall 2004 enrollment of the school’s charter MBA class.

  Rady School is marking its... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/20/19

• Bio Roundup: Pelosi’s Reveal, Alder’s Deal, Biogen’s Fails & More

  Boston, San Francisco, and a few other metro areas might dominate the US life sciences, but some weeks, all bio-related eyes are on the nation’s capital. Health concerns about vaping continue to mount, and the feds could get involved. Meanwhile, try... Read more »

  Alex Lash9/20/19

• Pelosi, Dems Unveil Price Plan: Are 25 Drugs Enough for Negotiation?

  With the 2020 election just over a year away, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has unveiled the Democratic Party’s answer to public discontent over high prescription drug prices.

  A preview of the plan was leaked last week. Today’s announcement doesn’t... Read more »

  Alex Lash9/19/19

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• Eying “Extra” DNA As Cancer Driver, Boundless Bio Debuts With $46M

  In the nucleus of human cells sit our chromosomes, comprised mainly of tightly wound DNA. In some cells, however, some pieces of genetic material that exist within the nucleus are not attached to a chromosome—and a new company, Boundless Bio, believes... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/19/19

• Automated Trucking Company TuSimple Adds $120M More From Investors

  UPS, the global package delivery giant, took a minority stake this summer in TuSimple, a self-driving trucking company, but didn’t reveal financial details.

  On Tuesday, the San Diego startup revealed that investment was part of an extended Series D financing round... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/17/19

• Amplyx Inks Novartis Deal for Another Compromised-Immune System Drug

  Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, which is testing a new type of drug against life-threatening infections acquired by patients with compromised immune systems, has acquired the rights to another drug that could also be of use in treating those with limited ability to fight... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/17/19

• Why Menlo Ventures Backed Construction Tech Firm Fieldwire

  [Corrected 9/17/2019, 8:58 a.m, and 9/18/19, 4:53 p.m. See below.] Fieldwire, whose mobile app helps builders and construction crews coordinate their work, announced today it has lined up a total of $33.5 million across two newly disclosed fundraising... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey9/16/19

• 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 week was any indication, more help could be on the... Read more »

  Ben Fidler9/13/19

• Tocagen Stock Tanks After Gene Therapy Drug for Brain Cancer Fails

  Tocagen’s experimental gene therapy for brain cancer therapy has failed a late-stage test, sinking the biotech’s stock price below $1.

  San Diego’s Tocagen (NASDAQ: TOCA), has been testing its drug in recurrent high-grade glioma, the most common and deadly type... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/12/19

• After Investing, GSK to Buy Out Celiac Drug Developer Sitari Pharma

  GlaxoSmithKline is acquiring a startup it helped launch in 2013 as part of an alliance with life sciences venture capital firm Avalon Ventures.

  Avalon said Tuesday that GSK (NYSE: GSK) has agreed to buy the company, Sitari Pharmaceuticals, which has... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/11/19

• After First Look at House Drug Plan, Stocks Rise Slightly

  The first details of the long-awaited House Democrat plan to lower drug prices leaked out Monday night, with elements that have long been anathema to the biopharma industry and its supporters in Washington.

  While the world digested the details Tuesday, however,... Read more »

  Alex Lash9/10/19

• 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 helped pave the way for immunotherapy.

  H. Michael Shepard, Dennis... Read more »

  Ben Fidler9/10/19

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