Kymera Therapeutics has a pipeline of preclinical drug candidates that use an experimental approach to get rid of disease-causing proteins and it’s now looking to tap the public markets to finance tests of the technology in humans. In paperwork submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Kymera set a $100 million goal for […]

Another biopharma has signed up to use Sangamo Therapeutics’ gene editing technology to develop therapies that can address disease by heightening or depressing a gene’s activity level. Sangamo on Thursday announced that Novartis (NYSE: NVS) had agreed to shell out $75 million up front to leverage the biotech’s genome regulation technology to treat certain neurodevelopmental […]

Public investors are betting big on biotechs, and Inhibrx is looking to capitalize on the industry’s recent resurgence of initial public offerings. The La Jolla, CA-based company, which is developing drugs for cancer and a rare respiratory disease, has again applied for a listing on the Nasdaq, a filing that comes more than a year […]

Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine research started with multiple approaches—four shots on the messenger RNA goal. The partners have narrowed their choices to one for pivotal testing, and that candidate takes the same tack as other companies trying to address the novel coronavirus. BNT162b2, the vaccine candidate that Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) […]

Telemedicine isn’t just another way to connect patients with doctors. AristaMD has carved out a niche in connecting doctors with, well, other doctors. The San Diego-based telehealth company’s software links primary care physicians and medical specialists through virtual consultations, communication that is intended to reduce healthcare costs by slimming down the number of referrals made […]

The lack of diversity in clinical trials is a serious problem that’s persisted for decades. Black Americans—who make up 20 percent of US multiple myeloma patients and are twice as likely to be diagnosed—have only accounted for 4.5 percent of participants in multiple myeloma trials since 2003. Asian Americans—who make up nearly 6 percent of […]

The FDA on Friday approved a Gilead Sciences drug developed for treating mantle cell lymphoma, paving the way for the company to commercialize its second cancer cell therapy. Approval for the drug, brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus), covers patients whose cancer has relapsed or has not responded to earlier treatments. Gilead (NASDAQ: GILD) added the therapy to […]

Triplet Therapeutics has appointed Alan Buckler to serve as chief scientific officer, the same role he held most recently at Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: SRRK). Buckler’s experience also includes positions at Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, and Axys Pharmaceuticals. Cambridge, MA-based Triplet launched last year with $49 million in financing to support […]

John Connolly joined the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) as its new chief scientific officer. He was most recently CSO at Singaporean clinical-stage cell therapy company Tessa Therapeutics, which in 2017 struck up an alliance with PICI to develop next-generation cancer treatments. Connolly is an associate professor at National University of Singapore and an […]

The biotech IPO queue has added two more companies. Freeline Therapeutics and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals have each filed the regulatory paperwork to offer shares to the public. Freeline is raising cash to ensure that its lead program, a prospective hemophilia B gene therapy, keeps pace in the race to develop and commercialize a genetic treatment for […]

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RYTM) has appointed David Meeker, its chairman, to serve as CEO. He succeeds Hunter Smith, the company’s interim CEO and chief financial officer. Smith will continue serving as CFO. Meeker joined the Rhythm Pharma board in 2015 and has been its chairman since 2017. His experience also includes executive positions at the […]

Venture capitalists like nothing more than pattern matching, and Domain Associates has identified one it especially prefers: licensing drug candidates from a Japanese biopharma and setting up a US company to move it through testing until Big Pharma starts nosing around. It’s a roadmap the VC firm, which has offices in San Diego and Princeton, […]