New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, including: Abbvie, Arcutis, BMS, Dermavant, Eli Lilly, Leo, Novartis, Rapt, Sanofi.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at IDWeek 2021, including: Allovir, Codagenix, Ferring, Humanigen, Iliad, Mycovia, Neoleukin, Peptilogics, Scynexis, Seqirus, Viiv.
Trimers of nanobodies, a simpler form of antibody made by some animal species, were effective at preventing and treating COVID-19 in preclinical studies, researchers reported in the Sept. 22, 2021, issue of Nature Communications.
Minhai Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has won approval from the NMPA for its 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which makes it the third company with such a vaccine to be greenlighted in China.
If there is one thing that potently illustrates the hope and despair of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the zigzag of BioWorld’s Infectious Disease Index. Up by nearly 64%, it is towering over both the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are up 12.4% and 15.5%, respectively, but it has experienced several downward swings this year as well.
Hillevax Inc., a company developing a vaccine to prevent moderate to severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection, has raised $135 million in crossover financing to support further clinical development of the candidate, HIL-214.
After seeing elevated alanine transaminase (ALT) levels consistent with drug-induced hepatotoxicity in its phase II study of ABI-H2158, Assembly Biosciences Inc. decided to discontinue development of the chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection therapy.
Less than six months after closing a $55 million series A round, Asher Biotherapeutics Inc. has added another $108 million in a series B round to accelerate development of its early stage pipeline of targeted cytokine-based immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune disease and infection.
“Now it’s all about time to market,” Bavarian Nordic A/S CEO Paul Chaplin said as the company disclosed positive results from the phase IIa study with its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, MVA-BN RSV. “We’re looking at designs [for phase III] that give us the fastest approval possible” in the competitive space, he said, adding that the previously envisioned two-season setup “has gone out the window” with the latest findings.
Hebecell Corp. closed on a $53 million series A funding to continue advancing its off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell CAR-natural killer cell (PSC-CAR-NK) therapy program into the clinic. Allen Feng, Hebecell’s chief scientific officer, has worked in stem cell development for more than 16 years. He’s seen a lot of technological change, especially in the past two years. Everyone is using the same technology, he said, but added that Hebecell’s technology is different from anyone else’s. It’s much simpler technology and has “very good potential” to move into large-scale industrial production.