GSK Vaccine Vet Pfefer Tapped for Executive Roles at Flagship, Kintai

Posted by |2020-07-16T14:33:50-07:00July 16th, 2020|

Flagship Pioneering has appointed Guillaume Pfefer to serve as CEO-partner of the venture capital firm. He will also become CEO of Kintai Therapeutics, one of the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s portfolio companies. Pfefer worked most recently at GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), where he was senior vice president and global vaccine leader for Shingrix, the company’s shingles vaccine. […]

Moderna Publishes Early COVID-19 Vaccine Data, Preps for Phase 3 Test

Posted by |2020-07-15T11:25:19-07:00July 15th, 2020|

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate stimulated production of antibodies to the novel coronavirus in all of the patients tested in an early-stage study, and the company says the data support the selection of which dose to test in a pivotal clinical trial slated to begin at the end of July. When the Cambridge, MA-based company initially […]

Scholar Rock CEO Mahanthappa to Step Down, Kingsley Named Successor

Posted by |2020-07-14T13:41:31-07:00July 14th, 2020|

Nagesh Manhanthappa, the founding employee of Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: SRRK) and its president and CEO for the past eight years, has decided to step down, the company announced Tuesday. No reason was given. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech said Mahanthappa is also leaving the board of directors on Aug. 1 but will continue to serve as […]

Turning Point Names Centrexion’s Partridge as Chief Commercial Officer

Posted by |2020-07-13T18:05:40-07:00July 13th, 2020|

Turning Point Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TPTX) appointed Andrew Partridge as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Partridge most recently served as chief operating officer and CCO at privately held Centrexion Therapeutics, a Boston company developing treatments for chronic pain. Previously he was with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX), where he ended a five-year stint as senior […]

Bio Roundup: Blackstone’s Billions, Biogen Finishes Filing, Novavax at “Warp Speed” & More

Posted by |2020-07-13T03:30:05-07:00July 10th, 2020|

Cash flowed throughout the life sciences ecosystem this week as Blackstone (NYSE: BX) raised a record-setting life sciences fund, companies of all stages announced new financings, and money continued to find its way to those working on efforts to treat or prevent COVID-19. Financiers poured $100 million or more into at least three biotechs, a […]

NFlection Looks to Erase NF1 Tumors With Drug That Only Goes Skin Deep

Posted by |2020-07-09T02:00:04-07:00July 9th, 2020|

The first drug for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is available to patients following the FDA’s approval of the AstraZeneca treatment earlier this year. Biotech startup NFlection Therapeutics is vying to be runner-up, but its founders say they can eventually win out with a drug that takes a different approach than the commercialized pill while also […]

Novavax Gets $1.6B in Operation Warp Speed Funding for COVID-19 Vaccine

Posted by |2020-07-07T13:15:03-07:00July 7th, 2020|

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, which has never before brought a product to market, announced the federal award Tuesday. […]

PacBio CEO, CFO Plan Retirements and More People on the Move

Posted by |2020-07-07T02:00:12-07:00July 7th, 2020|

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 Ray Jordan as chief corporate affairs officer. —Aridis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARDS) appointed Hasan Jafri its chief medical officer. […]

MEI Pharma, Helsinn Scuttle Cancer Drug Trial After Miss on Efficacy

Posted by |2020-07-06T03:30:07-07:00July 2nd, 2020|

MEI Pharma and its Swiss partner Helsinn are ending a Phase 3 study of an investigational cancer drug for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after an interim analysis indicated it was unlikely to meet the trial’s main goal of helping patients live longer. San Diego-based MEI (NASDAQ: MEIP), licensed the compound, pracinostat, from a […]

Annexon Adds On $100M to Advance Antibodies to Treat Neurodegeneration

Posted by |2020-07-01T16:00:16-07:00July 1st, 2020|

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 drugs for patients with autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders that are caused by an abnormal […]
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