In the past three years, Dova Pharmaceuticals has completed a company launch, gone public, and won its first drug approval. Now the biotech is in line to be acquired by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi). According to deal terms announced Monday, Dova (NASDAQ: DOVA) stockholders will receive $27.50 per share up front, a 36 percent premium […]

A number of gene-editing companies have joined the public markets in recent years. Beam Therapeutics, which is developing a CRISPR-based technology intended to offer even more precise genomic edits, aims to become the latest one. Cambridge, MA-based Beam filed its IPO paperwork with securities regulators late Friday. The company set a preliminary $100 million target […]

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 $30 million to fund early-stage clinical trials for its experimental RSV vaccine. Morningside Ventures, a […]

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 first nine months of the year and the amount they raised already topped three […]

Forma Therapeutics has promoted Patrick Kelly to senior vice president and chief medical officer. Kelly previously led translational clinical activities for Watertown, MA-based Forma. In other moves, Mary Wadlinger was promoted from senior vice president of human resources to senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief human resources officer. Forma also named Todd Shegog […]

The US biotech and life sciences industry has a long and proud history of driving medical innovations that have improved healthcare outcomes across a wide range of diseases and the overall quality of life for people worldwide. For too long, however, the industry’s narrative has been dominated and defined by partisans with a specific agenda […]

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 to find someone in the federal government who isn’t involved in the drug-price debate. […]

Aron Knickerbocker, CEO of Five Prime Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FPRX), has resigned “to pursue new challenges and opportunities,” the company announced after the market close Thursday. Knickerbocker was promoted to CEO nearly two years ago to succeed founder and longtime CEO Lewis “Rusty” Williams, who became the South San Francisco biotech’s executive chairman. Five Prime said […]

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 these “extra” pieces of DNA play a key role in driving some especially aggressive […]

Gary Gilliland, who has led Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as president and director for the past four-plus years, plans to step down in 2020, the nonprofit organization announced Tuesday. He joined the research center, which is often abbreviated as Fred Hutch, in 2015. Under his leadership, the organization has increased its endowment and […]

Denmark’s neuroscience-focused pharma firm Lundbeck has agreed to pay $1.95 billion to acquire Seattle-based Alder BioPharmaceuticals to boost its late-stage pipeline and biologics capabilities. Barely a year at the helm, Lundbeck CEO Deborah Dunsire (pictured) is making her second major acquisition as she continues to look for new growth drivers to offset generics erosion of […]

A panel of independent advisors to the FDA voted on Friday to recommend approval of an experimental peanut allergy drug from Aimmune Therapeutics. But concern about the risks of an allergic reaction to the therapy led the committee of mostly physicians to also recommend a safety plan to ensure that clinicians, patients, and their families […]