HONG KONG – Shanghai-based Bioshin Ltd., the Asia-Pacific arm of New Haven, Conn.-based Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd., has added $60 million to its war chest via a series A investment.
HONG KONG – Shanghai-based Bioshin Ltd., the Asia-Pacific arm of New Haven, Conn.-based Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd., has added $60 million to its war chest via a series A investment.
The share prices of blue-chip biopharmaceutical companies closed out the month on a high note to contribute to their stellar collective performance during the second quarter, with the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index increasing almost 20%.
While Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd.’s phase II/III proof-of-concept study of troriluzole for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) failed to meet its primary outcome measure at week 12, the company found enough silver in the study’s lining to press on for a larger phase III trial.
With an increasingly aging global population, neurological disorders have become a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the significant investments that continue to be made in research and development in the neurological field, the discovery of new drugs targeting many CNS disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, has proved to be difficult.
With the FDA’s blessing, Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd.’s Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) enters a massive market for treating migraine in adults. In the U.S. alone, more than 25 million people have been diagnosed and seek treatment.
Top-line results from Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co.’s phase III trial of troriluzole against placebo in treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) failed to hit its primary endpoint, prompting the company CEO to say the poor results support halting development plans for the glutamate modulator as a monotherapy in GAD.
No matter how effective it is, a drug is worthless if the people who need it can’t afford it. That’s been almost an anthem for patients and policy wonks testifying before U.S. Congress on drug prices.
Investors in small and midsized biopharma companies were certainly rewarded in 2019, with group members in the BioWorld Drug Developers index on a tear. The price-weighted index returned 40% in value thanks to a steady flow of positive regulatory and clinical trial results from the companies throughout the year. However, investors may be less impressed with the start they have made this year, with the index dipping 8.4% in January.
