Kite Pharma Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., reported the results of a small National Cancer Institute (NCI) dose-escalation study that tested a T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy of the same type it is testing in a recently-started phase Ia/b trial called KITE-718.

Roka Bioscience Inc., of Warren, N.J., said it entered an agreement with Rokabio Inc., a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary of Institute for Environmental Health Inc., of Lake Forest Park, Wash., for the sale of substantially all of Roka's assets in an all-cash transaction for $17.5 million.

Altimmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said it entered a definitive securities purchase agreement with new and existing investors to sell an aggregate of 15,656 shares of series B convertible preferred stock and warrants for gross proceeds of approximately $14.7 million.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is once again considering a delay in the implementation date for a final rule on 340B prescription drug ceiling price provisions and the $5,000 civil monetary penalties for manufacturers that overcharge safety net health care providers for covered outpatient drugs.

Researchers have identified a chemical class, the hexahydroquinolines (HHQs), that were effective both at killing the malaria parasite both in the stage when it causes illness, and the stage when it is transmissible from humans to mosquitoes.

The explosive growth of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is well-known, as are the reasons for its alarming prevalence. T2D now touches every age cohort and nearly every culture in every corner of the world, driving corresponding increases in complications such as stroke, blindness, kidney disease and skin ulcers, with debilitating or deadly results.

HONG KONG – As the incidence of diabetes in China continues to climb to alarming rates, multinational and local pharmaceutical companies are racing to take a larger slice of the growing market pie, but patients in lower-tier cities will have to wait before they can access innovative treatments.

When the FDA recently gave drug manufacturers a one-year grace period on complying with the Nov. 27 serialization requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), a lot of companies likely heaved a sigh of relief.

Comparative sequencing of primary breast tumors and metastases has revealed that the cells that seed metastases break off from the primary tumor relatively late in tumor development, and as a result, are usually genetically similar to the primary tumor at the time of diagnosis.

Dynavax Technologies Corp. raised net proceeds of about $64.5 million through a public offering of 27.6 million shares of its common stock, including 3.6 million shares sold to its underwriters.