A year after Generate Biomedicines Inc. pulled off its $273 million series C financing round, the Flagship Pioneering-spawned and AI-powered protein therapeutics firm drew investment of an undisclosed amount from the Samsung Life Science Fund Dec. 18.
Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Ltd. received an early Christmas present from the FDA for approval of its allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy, Ryoncil (remestemcel-L), for steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease (SR-aGvHD) in children 2 months and older, including adolescents.
Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is progressing synthetic antibiotic Recce-327 to pivotal phase III trials in Indonesia for the treatment of diabetic foot infections. The trial, which is assessing Recce-327 as a topical gel (R327G), is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025, Recce CEO James Graham told BioWorld.
GC Biopharma Corp. will buy plasma collector Abo Holdings Inc. in a ₩138 billion (US$96.28 million) cash acquisition as the vaccine and plasma-derived medicinal products developer works to accelerate entry of Alyglo (IVIG-SN 10%) in the U.S., where it was approved last year.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. gained approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee in Australia to start phase I/II trials of GBP-560, its mRNA-based vaccine candidate for mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus, with funding from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Nearly three years after being terminated as president and CEO of Cytodyn Inc., Nader Pourhassan was convicted June 9 by a U.S. federal jury for his role in a securities fraud scheme to deceive investors about the Vancouver, Wash.-based company’s development of leronlimab. The jury also convicted Kazem Kazempour, the CEO of Amarex Clinical Research LLC, a contract research organization hired by Cytodyn, for his part in the scheme.
Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. hit the mark that Wall Street hoped for, and details rolled out in top-line results from the first-in-pediatrics phase II study evaluating once-daily, oral zelicapavir in hospitalized and non-hospitalized children aged 28 days to 36 months with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Although it does not generally infect humans, a single mutation of the H5N1 virus in the highly pathogenic avian and bovine clade 2.3.4.4b could overcome this barrier and possibly trigger a pandemic. Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have warned of this possibility after studying the three-dimensional structure of the viral hemagglutinin and seeing how a change in one amino acid would make it more suitable for the human cell receptor. The researchers stress the need to monitor new mutations of this virus in order to act quickly in case the global jump to our species occurs.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Lorik Papyan, who pleaded guilty three years ago to one count of unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs, to pay Gilead Sciences Inc. nearly $32 million in restitution to cover lost profits due to a counterfeit HIV drug scheme he was involved in.
The BioWorld Infectious Disease Index has struggled to gain ground in 2024 but has held relatively steady in recent months. After ending July down 7.66%, it closed October down 12.07% and sat at an 8.86% decline for the year as of Nov. 22.