Beta amyloid grabs most of the headlines and research dollars for Alzheimer’s disease, but efforts to develop drugs targeting that brain protein have largely come up short. Pinteon Therapeutics is trying for a better outcome with drugs that block tau, a different protein that, despite also being associated with Alzheimer’s, has garnered much less attention. […]

Roche Diagnostics has appointed Matthew Sause to serve as president and CEO of its North America operations. Sause is coming to Indianapolis-based Roche Diagnostics from Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), where he is senior vice president and head of global commercial product. His experience includes 17 years at Roche, including time at the company’s diagnostics division. […]

Judith Abrams has joined Editas Medicine as (NASDAQ: EDIT) chief medical officer. She most recently worked at EMD Serono Research and Development Institute as the franchise lead in immunology and neurology, global drug safety innovation. Her experience includes positions at CorMedix, Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG), and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). Cambridge, MA-based Editas is developing gene-editing […]

Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MIRM) has appointed Ed Tucker to serve as its chief medical officer. He was most recently the chief operating officer of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) subsidiary Acerta Pharma. His experience also includes positions at Bayer, Janssen Pharmaceutica, and Genentech. Foster City, CA-based Mirum Pharma, which launched late last year, is developing drugs for […]

Venture Investors is going all-in on healthcare with its latest venture fund. Launched in 1982, Venture Investors (VI) is the oldest venture firm in Wisconsin, and one of the older VCs in the US. Historically, early-stage life sciences and healthcare startups have made up the majority of its investments, but it has also backed young […]

Nearly one year after DNA sequencing machine maker Illumina announced plans to acquire smaller rival Pacific Biosciences, antitrust regulators in the UK say the merger could stifle competition in the region and reduce industry innovation. The Competition and Markets Authority has been eying the proposed $1.2 billion tie-up since April. The regulator’s in-depth review, which […]

Rabia Ozden has joined Akouos as chief development officer. She was most recently the chief medical officer of gene therapy developer Nightstar Therapeutics, which was acquired by Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) earlier this year for $800 million. Boston-based Akouos is developing gene therapies to address inherited forms of hearing loss.

The third annual Xconomy Awards Boston Gala was the biggest and most spectacular yet. More than 450 people from across the life science ecosystem came out to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center last month to celebrate the finalists over dinner and drinks, find out who got to take home the awards, and reconnect with […]

Six months after Biogen stopped work on a closely watched experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment, the neuroscience drug developer is reviving it with plans to file for FDA approval. Aducanumab’s Phase 3 failure in March was viewed as yet another nail in the coffin for the so-called “amyloid hypothesis”—the theory that by breaking up or clearing […]

An experimental breast cancer drug from Seattle Genetics is headed for FDA review after the company reported a pivotal clinical trial met its main goals. The company has been testing tucatinib as a treatment for advanced or metastatic breast cancer with abnormally high levels of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), […]

Cancer therapies that harness the immune system don’t work for all patients. Verseau Therapeutics aims to bring cancer immunotherapy to more people by targeting a type of immune cell present in the vast majority of tumors and directing it to fight the disease. Verseau launched Monday backed by $50 million in financing. The Bedford, MA-based […]

Enzyvant, a Cambridge, MA-based rare disease drug developer, has appointed Jeb Ledell as its chief operating officer. Ledell previously held COO roles at Cambridge-based Compass Therapeutics and at Horizon Discovery Group, a genomics company in the UK. Enzyvant’s lead candidate, RVT-802, a regenerative treatment for pediatric congenital athymia, is expected to receive an FDA decision in […]