Dave Johnson has known UC San Diego physician and cancer reseacher Thomas Kipps for nearly 20 years. Now Johnson, CEO of San Diego-based cancer drug developer VelosBio, has secured $137 million to accelerate the company’s goal of developing targeted therapies based... Read more »
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 »
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 »
The same week Annexon Biosciences announced it had raised $100 million in private financing to advance its research of antibody drugs to treat neurodegeneration, the company filed paperwork with regulators indicating its intention to tap the public markets, too.
The South... Read more »
Fast enrollment of the right patient populations will be critical to quickly conducting Phase III trials of COVID-19 vaccines and this will likely mean taking concerted steps to reach out to populations that can be harder to recruit for clinical trials,... Read more »
The quantity of data about medicines, diseases, and biology is growing. So too, are the number of companies that employ artificial intelligence in drug discovery. Most of the low-hanging fruit in drug research has already been picked, and the industry is... Read more »
Annexon Biosciences, a biotech founded in late 2014 by former Elan Pharmaceuticals executives, has added $100 million to its coffers to move its two clinical-stage programs along and to continue advancing its preclinical pipeline.
The South San Francisco-based company is developing... Read more »
Ten months ago Randy Schatzman was appointed CEO of cancer drug developer Bolt Biotherapeutics, and tasked with getting its first drug candidate into the clinic, building out its C-suite, and raising more money.
On Wednesday Schatzman checked the last box... Read more »
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical won FDA approval Tuesday for a therapy that treats a group of rare metabolic disorders that render the body unable to convert certain fats—such as those found in olive oil, fish, and nuts—into energy.
People who have long-chain fatty... Read more »
A growing population of people with software experience plus an interest in life sciences is boosting drug development in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to panelists at an Xcelerating event.
Innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area may first bring... Read more »
A new version of a combination drug marketed by Roche for early-stage and metastatic breast cancer with a specific genetic signature received FDA approval Monday for a formulation that can be delivered in minutes rather than an hour or more.
The... Read more »
The FDA has rejected an Intercept Pharmaceuticals drug developed to treat the fatty liver disorder nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, more commonly referred to as “NASH.”
New York-based Intercept (NASDAQ: ICPT) said Monday that the agency’s complete response letter for obeticholic acid (OCA)... Read more »
The FDA has rejected an investigational AbbVie drug for the “wet” form of age-related macular degeneration, dealing a setback to the company’s bid to wrest market share from blockbuster drugs currently used to treat the condition.
According to AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV... Read more »
