Xeltis BV hopes that promising data from clinical trials on the performance of its synthetic vascular access graft implant will transform not only the lives of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease but also the company’s fortunes. “We're outperforming other solutions out there, that's the nice promise not only for the patient and for the families but also for potential strategics that might be interested in the company and play a role in the vascular space,” Eliane Schutte, CEO of Xeltis told BioWorld.
Obesity specialist Sixpeaks Bio AG emerged from stealth with $110 million in funding and an option to be acquired by Astrazeneca plc within the next two years, subject to filing an IND for the lead product. Of the $110 million, $30 million is a series A round, with the balance to come from Astrazeneca, which will provide nondilutive finance of up to $80 million.
South Korea’s Genome & Co. Ltd. (KOSDAQ:314130) shares rose nearly 30% June 3 after it disclosed a potential ₩586.38 billion (US$426 million) licensing deal for its novel antibody-drug conjugate candidate with Switzerland’s Debiopharm International SA.
China’s Medilink Therapeutics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. and Germany’s Biontech SE signed another potential $1 billion-plus deal for novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets, building off the first ADC-based licensing deal from last year.
Although consensus was not reached on the World Health Organization’s pandemic agreement, the World Health Assembly recognized the progress made by member states to develop a pandemic agreement and to strengthen International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) during the 77th World Health Assembly meeting held May 27 to June 1 in Geneva.
The €1.5 million ($US1.63 million) in pre-seed funding recently raised by En Carta Diagnostics SA is “key” for the company to be able to develop its point-of-care molecular diagnostics kits and generate clinical data, Guillaume Horreard, CEO at En Carta told BioWorld.
The EMA has been sent back to the drawing board to re-evaluate PTC Therapeutics Inc.’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy Translarna (ataluren), after failing to get the usual rubber stamp following its recommendation in January that the drug’s conditional approval be withdrawn.
South Korea’s Genome & Co. Ltd. (KOSDAQ:314130) shares rose nearly 30% June 3 after it disclosed a potential ₩586.38 billion (US$426 million) licensing deal for its novel antibody-drug conjugate candidate with Switzerland’s Debiopharm International SA.
The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recent recommendation that selective internal radiation therapy could be used to treat neuroendocrine tumors that have metastasized to the liver is a boon for patients suffering from the disease. However, there is not yet a clear pathway for these patients to receive the therapy via the national health service.
The Parliament of the U.K. has dissolved right on schedule, leaving the members of the House of Commons with a raft of policy issues to deal with in the next assembly. One of these issues is a bill originating in the House of Lords, the Artificial Intelligence Bill, which seems technologically agnostic and thus may represent a risk of duplicative oversight of AI for health care purposes.