Forma Therapeutics has developed a pipeline of small molecules aimed at rare blood disorders and cancers, but it aims to advance two—investigational treatments for sickle cell disease and for advanced prostate cancer—and find partners for the rest of them. Now the Watertown, MA-based company is considering tapping the public markets to add enough funds to […]

Human DNA holds secrets that, once uncovered, have led scientists to develop a number of treatments for disease. A slew of biopharmas and biotechs—not to mention national health systems—have hoovered up genetic data from millions of people in hopes of leveraging the information contained within to drive their R&D. Variant Bio, which debuted Thursday with […]

The US FDA’s formal guidance on development of COVID-19 treatments and preventative agents takes a broadly flexible approach to Phase 2 and 3 trial design, repeatedly indicating a willingness to consider varied options while urging sponsors to discuss their trials plans with the agency earlier rather than later. “FDA is committed to supporting all scientifically […]

Merck exited the holiday weekend with some fireworks of its own, announcing three major programs on Tuesday all related to investments in finding ways to treat and prevent COVID-19. The Kenilworth, NJ-based pharma giant said it had inked an agreement to acquire Austrian vaccine developer Themis, which has a COVID-19 candidate in preclinical development; develop […]

COVID-19 has ravaged the economy, and it was expected to quash the IPO market, too. But the biotech sector is defying the pandemic with crossover financings and freshly minted public companies. On Friday, three firms added their names to the list of life science companies preparing to join the public markets. Gene therapy company Generation […]

The FDA on Thursday approved a Sunovion Pharmaceuticals treatment for Parkinson’s disease, giving patients a new way to take an old drug. The Sunovion product, Kynmobi, is a formulation of apomorphine hydrochloride, a drug that treats “off” episodes experienced by Parkinson’s patients. These are times when the standard of care drug, levodopa, wears off and […]

Biotechs are increasingly looking to leverage a mechanism cells use to get rid of unwanted proteins to drug targets previously considered out of reach. Roche ponied up $135 million upfront this week to work with Vividion Therapeutics in search of small molecules that use that “protein degradation” process to do just that. The drug discovery […]

Oligomerix this week added William Erhardt to its executive team as chief medical officer. Erhardt was most recently senior vice president, head of clinical development & operations at Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). New York-based Oligomerix, which is headquartered at the Ullmann Research Center for Health Sciences within the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is developing small […]

Ardelyx (NASDAQ: ARDX) has added Susan Rodriguez to its C suite as the company’s first chief commercial officer. Rodriguez was most recently president of the branded division of Tolmar, a merged entity created from Tolmar Pharmaceuticals and its sister companies. She previously served as the founding CEO of Tolmar Pharma. Before Tolmar Rodriguez held various […]

The US Health and Human Services agency isn’t ready to go all in on “pull” incentives to encourage the development of new antibiotics, the agency indicated in response to a new Government Accountability Office report. “It is still unclear whether post-market financial incentives should necessarily be part of HHS’s forthcoming strategic framework to further incentivize […]

It may seem like an unlikely link but the body’s response to arthritis may hold answers for better cancer drugs, says Luis Voloch, chief technology officer of startup Immunai. Immune cells respond to both conditions, but in different ways. Insights into the response for one disease could inform the treatment of the other, he says. […]

Artax Biopharma has appointed Joseph Lobacki as its new chief executive officer. Lobacki’s prior experience includes roles at Sanofi Genzyme, Medivation, Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM), and Micromet, which was later acquired by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN). He succeeds company co-founder Damia Tormo, who has served as Artax’s CEO since its 2013 founding. The company says Tormo will […]