While the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) shared some of the agency’s concerns about uncertainties surrounding Mesoblast Ltd.’s Ryoncil (remestemcel-L), it voted 9-1 Aug. 13 that the mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) product showed evidence of efficacy as a treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) in children.

Two decades after the federal government jumpstarted U.S. R&D investment in its understanding and control of nanoscale matter, funding for the efforts across the government reached about $1.4 billion in fiscal 2020, part of a total cumulative investment of about $29 billion. Though FDA-budgeted nanotech research has accounted for just a fraction of that, at a modest $133 million since 2009, substantial advances have still been made, according to a presentation on the state of nanotech progress and innovation issued this summer.

Wall Street dinged Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. earlier this week after mixed regulatory news on the nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (NRF2) activators omaveloxolone for Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) and bardoxolone for Alport syndrome (AS), but the Plano, Texas-based firm stayed resolute, and its recent deal with Blackstone Life Sciences (BXLS) provides cause for optimism. Increased clarity on paths forward “debunks the bear-case view” of Reata, in the opinion of Jefferies analyst Maury Raycroft, who went as far as to say in a report that the stock “overreaction create[d] a buying opportunity.”