SAN FRANCISCO – The nexus of clinical development, regulation and capital was the focus of a panel convened Tuesday at the 30th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference to discuss a biomedical industry CEO survey conducted by the nonprofit California Healthcare Initiative (CHI), the Northern California life science association BayBio and the pharmaceutical, medical device and life sciences industry group at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – On the periphery of the 30th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, with its 8,000 registered attendees and crowded hallways at the Westin St. Francis hotel, another tier of activity reigns: the small and medium-sized life sciences companies hoping to gain an audience with the right investor or partner to bolster shrinking cash balances and propel R&D work to the next levels. Read More
WASHINGTON – While biopharma is so hungry for social media guidance that it's taking any scraps it can get, the FDA's Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) is serving up a research menu laden with print and broadcast issues. Read More
Despite a recent wave of contraction in the health care venture capital industry, Canaan Partners raised $600 million in its ninth fund. Granted, the bulk will go to tech investments, but about $100 million is earmarked for drug developers, and a further $100 million will go to medical device, diagnostics and health care IT firms. Read More
• Immuron Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said the FDA cleared its investigational new drug application to begin a Phase IIb trial of bovine colostrum-derived Imm124-E for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis – a chronic inflammatory disorder of the liver – and fatty liver disease. Read More
• ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd., of Woodland Hills, Calif., priced an underwritten offering of 9.49 units at $1.10 per unit for net proceeds of about $9.4 million. The units consist of one share of common stock and a warrant to buy one half share of common stock. The warrants have a five-year term and are exercisable at $1.41 per share. Read More
• DFH Pharma Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., is collaborating with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop the next generation of HIV maturation inhibitor drugs. DFH has identified a series of second-generation maturation inhibitors with the broad antiviral activity profile necessary for HIV drug development. Under the agreement, NCI investigators will evaluate the activity of those compounds against HIV strains associated with reduced bevirimat activity. Read More