Mark Rothera has been appointed president and CEO of Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN). He comes to London-based Silence from Orchard Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ORTX), where he was chief executive. Rothera’s experience also includes positions at PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTCT), Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and Shire. Rothera is starting at Silence one week after the company debuted on the […]

Gilead Sciences is acquiring Immunomedics in a $21 billion deal, the latest in a string of transactions the company has made to bolster its cancer drug portfolio. The acquisition announced Sunday comes five months after Morris Plains, NJ-based Immunomedics won FDA approval for cancer drug sacitizumab govitecan (Trodelvy). The regulatory decision covers triple negative breast […]

COVID-19 research efforts are often characterized as a race between companies, a description that reflects the urgency to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The description is not quite right. A race has one winner and public health officials have said we’ll need multiple vaccines to address the global need. Vaccine developers have progressed […]

Codiak BioSciences, a company developing therapies based on tiny bubbles secreted by cells, is lining up an IPO as it prepares for the first tests of its technology in humans later this year. In paperwork filed with securities regulators late Wednesday, Codiak set a preliminary $100 million goal for its stock market debut. The Cambridge, […]

When biotech startups emerge from stealth, executives typically talk about new molecules in the pipeline and novel approaches they take to treating a disease. The founders of Generate Biomedicines want to discuss none of those things, yet they contend their technology will upend the way protein drugs are discovered and developed. Cambridge, MA-based Generate has […]

Andrews Hirsch has joined C4 Therapeutics as its new CEO. He comes to the Watertown, MA-based biopharmaceuticals company from Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO), where he was chief financial officer and head of corporate development. Marc Cohen, the co-founder and interim CEO of C4, will remain executive chairman of the company. C4 is developing drugs that […]

A Blueprint Medicines drug designed to address cancer that carries a certain genetic signature now has FDA approval, the latest targeted therapy to pass the regulatory bar this year. The late Friday decision for pralsetinib (Gavreto) covers non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The drug was designed to address cancers characterized by fusions or mutations of […]

It would be hard to find a more challenging time for Michelle McMurry-Heath to join the Biotechnology Innovation Organization as its CEO given the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests over racial inequality in the US. But the organization is trying to rise to the occasion on both fronts, with biotech companies pioneering new responses to […]

Biofourmis, a digital therapeutics startup that employs wearable devices and data analytics to help treat patients, has raised $100 million to scale its offerings globally and develop new products that further blur the lines that once clearly separated drugs from medical devices. The new capital, a Series C round of funding, was led by SoftBank, […]

If Lumen Bioscience achieves its goals, patients will be able to take its drugs the same way some people supplement breakfast: a spoonful heaped onto a bowl of cereal or mixed into juice. The startup harnesses spirulina, protein-rich cyanobacteria touted by many health enthusiasts as a “superfood.” Lumen CEO Brian Finrow (pictured above, right) acknowledges […]

Intercept Pharmaceuticals is cutting one-fourth of its workforce, a decision that comes two months after the FDA rejected its drug candidate for the liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Up until the FDA’s rejection of the drug, obeticholic acid (Ocaliva), Intercept (NASDAQ: ICPT) had been preparing for a drug launch. In a Tuesday securities filing, the […]

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 […]