Researchers have discovered that the TLR5 agonist Entolimod (CBLB502, Cleveland BioLabs Inc.), which is in development as a radioprotective agent, work primarily on receptors in the liver, and that it may be useful to fight liver metastases and, more broadly, as a liver-protective agent. Andrei Gudkov, who is chief scientific officer at Cleveland BioLabs as well as senior vice president of basic science at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the paper's corresponding author, told BioWorld
By Anette Breindl | BioWorld Today | Monday, May 6, 2013
TOTAL: $103.52M Company (Location) Type Of Financing Number Of Shares, Units Or Warrants (M) Amount Raised (M) Investors; Placement Agents; Details Date Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Hayward, Calif.) Common stock purchase agreement N/A $2 Anthera entered an $18.5M common stock purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital Fund LLC, under which it made an initial purchase of $2M in common stock priced at 64.8 cents apiece 4/9/13 Cardium Therapeutics Inc. (San Diego) Private placement of
Partnerships are a key component in the operating playbook of emerging and developing biotechnology companies. Although this year is shaping up as a very big one for deals, according to data from the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and biopharma consulting firm Campbell Alliance Group, they are not as lucrative for generating cash in the early stages as they once were. Deal structures now emphasize a heavy dose of risk-sharing with downstream performance milestones and smaller upfront
By Peter Winter | BioWorld Insight | Monday, May 6, 2013
An existing partner with two other deals jumped aboard Ambrx Inc.'s site-specific, antibody drug conjugate (ADC) bandwagon, as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. provided $15 million up front plus funding for discovery and research, as well as milestone payments of that could total $97 million per oncology product emerging from the collaboration. "I think it is based on the relationship we've built with BMS, but this is a different franchise area, a different portion of our technology platform," said
By Randy Osborne | BioWorld Today | Monday, May 6, 2013
Company Amount Raised Auris Medical AG $50.8M Jounce Therapeutics Inc. $47M Opsona Therapeutics Ltd. $43.2M Radius Health Inc. $43M GenSight Biologics $41.6M Esperion Therapeutics Inc. $33M Revance Therapeutics Inc. $33M Syros Pharmaceuticals $30M Labrys Biologics Inc. $31M Versartis Inc. $25M
I. COMMENCED TRADING IN APRIL Company (Symbol)# Date Filed Date Comm. Shares/ Units (M) Price Shares Out (M)@ Lead, Other Underwriters Gross (US$M) Post- Offering Market Cap (M)% INITIAL OFFERINGS Chimerix Inc. (Research Triangle Park, N.C.; CMRX)1 3/8/13 4/11/13 7.32S $14 24.4 Morgan Stanley Cowen & Co. (co-lead) William Blair Lazard Capital Markets $102.5 $341.6 Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Princeton, N.J.; OMTH)2 3/8/13 4/12/13 8S $8 24.4 BofA Merrill Lynch Barclays (co-lead
Eggs: Fresh or Stale? Researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science have weighed in on the question of whether female mammals have germ-line stem cells that are capable of generating new egg cells. Recent reports have questioned the long-held notion that female mammals are born with all the eggs they will ever possess, suggesting instead that they have stem cells capable of generating new eggs. In their work, the researchers used a sensitive labeling system to see whether they could
"There are very good early stage venture capitalists. But, as the pathway to approval under the FDA becomes longer and more expensive, it requires either a significant amount of long-term-view strategic focus to get through that pathway, or a significant amount of capital or both." – Luke Düster, principal with Capital Royalty L.P., on the closing of the firm's second fund "Phase I is a great time to buy if you're a pharma company. I think there's a lot of motivation for sellers to go as far as
Total: $416.95M Company Location Amt. (M) Details Date ActoGeniX NV Ghent, Belgium €10.7 ($14) ActoGeniX closed a Series B round, raising $14M, led by Saffelberg Investment, with the company's founders and GIMV, Biotech Fund Flanders, Baekeland Fund, BioVest CVA, Life Sciences Partners, Aescap Ventures and Ventech 4/19/13 Allecra Therapeutics GmbH Lorrach, Germany €15 ($19.6) Allecra raised $19.6M in a Series A round from Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and
A report from real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle in March lists San Diego as the number two biotechnology cluster in the U.S. Like any list, the ranking is debatable, especially by people in the San Francisco Bay Area who came in third. But whether the region is ranked first, second, or third, it's pretty clear San Diego and the rest of Southern California is an important region for the biotech industry. At the helm, serving as a guiding force, is Biocom, the 25-year old, including predecessors
By Brian Orelli | BioWorld Insight | Monday, May 6, 2013
By taking a detailed look at toxicities of a bispecific antibody that targets the transferrin receptor to cross the blood-brain-barrier, researchers at Genentech Inc. have gained new insights into both "important safety concerns and potential mitigation strategies" for the therapeutic development of such antibodies. The current studies, which were published in the May 2, 2013, issue of Science Translational Medicine, came out of work published in 2011 describing an antibody with two binding
By Anette Breindl | BioWorld Insight | Monday, May 6, 2013
Company Amount Raised Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. $175M OPKO Health Inc. $175M Mesoblast Ltd. $174.6M Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. $110M e-Therapeutics plc $62.66M
LONDON – Galapagos NV has raised €53.9 million (US$70.7 million) in an over-subscribed placing in which it has tapped into the strong appetite U.S. investors currently have for biotechnology. This is Galapagos' fourth private placing since it went public in May 2005. "It definitely was easier than previous rounds: there was a minimal discount and we have attracted premier investment groups, in particular in the U.S.," said Onno von de Stolpe, CEO. "It's been a fantastic success," he told
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld Today | Monday, May 6, 2013
The FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 13-1 against the adequacy of AVEO Oncology Inc.'s single Phase III trial to support the approval of tivozanib.
Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. were down nearly 10 percent Friday following Thursday's after-market release of first-quarter earnings, which included news that the San Diego-based biotech is pulling its European marketing application for obesity drug Belviq (lorcaserin), though the bigger disappointment may be the ongoing delay in Belviq's U.S. launch. The stock (NASDAQ:ARNA), which traded at more than 30 times its normal volume, closed Friday at $7.63, down 77 cents. Arena's drug made
By Jennifer Boggs | BioWorld Today | Monday, May 6, 2013
Total: $85.5M Year to Date: $204.55M Company (Location) Partner (Location) Amt. (M) Details Date Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (San Diego) Eisai Inc. (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) $0.5 For the submission of a marketing authorization application for Belviq in Mexico for use as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adults 4/2/13 Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Morrisville, N.C.) Menarini Group (Florence, Italy) $5 For the launch of Priligy in
Researchers have discovered that the TLR5 agonist Entolimod (CBLB502, Cleveland BioLabs Inc.), which is in development as a radioprotective agent, work primarily on receptors in the liver, and that it may be useful to fight liver metastases and, more broadly, as a liver-protective agent. Andrei Gudkov, who is chief scientific officer at Cleveland BioLabs as well as senior vice president of basic science at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the paper's corresponding author, told BioWorld