Early Bird Sale for Xcelerate at Biotech Week Boston Ends This Friday

Posted by |2020-08-31T13:13:56-07:00August 31st, 2020|

Don’t miss out on savings for this year’s online Xcelerate Keynote Series at Biotech Week Boston – our early bird sale ends this Friday! Speakers include: Jeff Baker – Deputy Director, Office of Biotechnology Products, FDA Michelle McMurry-Heath – President & CEO, BIO John Maraganore – CEO, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Yvonne Greenstreet – Chief Operating Officer, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Andrew Plump […]

Biotech Roundup: FDA Culpa, Tricida Trips, Freenome’s Funding & More

Posted by |2020-08-31T03:30:09-07:00August 28th, 2020|

Among the casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic: the credibility of government agencies entrusted with protecting public health. The FDA this week granted emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment for infection by the novel coronavirus. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alez Azar both misrepresented the magnitude […]

Athira Aims for the Nasdaq to Advance Alzheimer’s Drug to Phase 2 Tests

Posted by |2020-08-27T15:57:35-07:00August 27th, 2020|

Many of the drugs tested in Alzheimer’s disease so far, and some still in development, aim to block or break up proteins associated with the progression of the memory-robbing disorder. Athira Pharma is taking a different approach—neuron regeneration. And it’s doing so by a tapping a protein first discovered in the liver. Seattle-based Athira has […]

Kinnate Raises $98M for Human Tests of Targeted Cancer Therapies

Posted by |2020-08-26T16:00:26-07:00August 26th, 2020|

Drugs designed to precisely target cancers with specific genetic signatures have changed the course of disease for many patients. But for the majority, such drugs either don’t work because of innate resistance or they eventually stop working once the cancer develops new mutations that hamper their effectiveness. Kinnate Biopharma, one of the biotechs working to […]

Acadia Pharma Acquires CerSci, Potential Pain Meds in $52.5M Buyout

Posted by |2020-08-25T23:18:23-07:00August 25th, 2020|

Acadia Pharmaceuticals has acquired Texas biotech CerSci Therapeutics, a privately held company with a clinical-stage molecule under evaluation as a potential therapy for post-surgical and nerve pain. The San Diego-based company splashed out $52.5 million on the buyout, a cash-and-stock deal—$47.2 million of it in Acadia shares, according to a regulatory filing—that closed Monday. Acadia […]

FDA Adds Plasma as 2nd COVID-19 Treatment Under Emergency Guidelines

Posted by |2020-08-24T15:12:03-07:00August 24th, 2020|

The FDA has authorized the use of plasma from people who have recovered from infection by the novel coronavirus as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a move widely perceived as influenced by political pressure given the lack of clear evidence of clinical benefit. Treating patients with plasma—the water, salts, and proteins that make up […]

Astellas Reports Third Patient Death in Audentes Gene Therapy Study

Posted by |2020-08-24T03:30:07-07:00August 21st, 2020|

A third patient who received an experimental Audentes gene therapy for a rare neuromuscular disorder has died, a disclosure that comes two months after the deaths of two patients led the FDA to place a clinical hold on the study. San Francisco-based Audentes, a subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma, said Friday that early […]

Harmony Bio and Inhibrx Raise Combined $247M in Public Market Debuts

Posted by |2020-08-20T16:32:13-07:00August 20th, 2020|

Two biotechs this week topped the $100 million mark in their respective initial public offerings, both of which were able to offer more shares than planned. One, a company with nearly nine month’s-worth of revenue from a newly commercialized drug and the other, an early-clinical stage oncology drug developer, illustrate the range of biotech companies […]

FDA Rejects BioMarin Hemophilia Gene Therapy, Asks for More Data

Posted by |2020-08-19T14:49:03-07:00August 19th, 2020|

A gene therapy designed to treat the severest cases of the most common type of hemophilia has been rejected by the FDA, which wants more data on the durability of the investigational treatment developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Letters issued by the FDA turning down experimental treatments aren’t made public, but BioMarin (NASDAQ: BMRN) says the […]

Patient Death in Poseida Prostate Cancer Study Prompts Clinical Hold

Posted by |2020-08-18T16:00:46-07:00August 18th, 2020|

A Phase 1 trial testing a Poseida Therapeutics cell therapy in men with prostate cancer is on hold after a patient enrolled in the study died of liver failure nearly three weeks after receiving the treatment. The San Diego company, which has touted its product candidates as safer than early-generation versions developed by other companies, […]

Tango Therapeutics Adds $175M, Deal Turns Partner Gilead Into Investor

Posted by |2020-08-17T17:29:01-07:00August 17th, 2020|

Cancer drug developer Tango Therapeutics is adding $175 million more to its coffers in cash and equity, funds the company says will help it get its lead program into the clinic in 18 months. The money includes $50 million in equity financing, $20 million of that from Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), plus another $125 million […]

Advisory Body Backs MesoBlast Therapy for Transplant Complication

Posted by |2020-08-17T03:30:06-07:00August 14th, 2020|

An FDA advisory committee Thursday voted 9-1 to recommend that the agency approve a stem cell therapy developed by MesoBlast as a treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in children. The panel weighed the need for a new way to address the potentially fatal condition against shortcomings of the clinical trial the Australian biotech conducted […]
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