Drug repositioning specialist Biovista Inc. has tapped Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) to add greater computing power to Project Prodigy, a personalized medicine platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help doctors identify novel drugs for hard-to-treat patients. HPE, a spin-off of HP Inc. focused on data analysis and security, is also providing financial and commercial support to help Biovista explore new applications for the system beyond health care, president and co-founder Aris Persidis told BioWorld.

With would-be competitor Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. hot on its heels, Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. has little time to spare if it wants to maintain potential first-mover advantage after partner Glaxosmithkline plc bailed on transthyretin (TTR) antisense inhibitor inotersen, only a few months after the drug yielded positive phase III data.

Researchers from the NIH have conducted a genomewide screen to determine which genes affect sensitivity and resistance of cancer cells to destruction by T cells. Checkpoint blockers, which activate T cells against the immune system, are wildly successful in a minority of patients, and little is known about why some tumors succumb to T-cell boosting immunotherapy, while others shrug it off. In their work, the authors developed a co-culture system consisting of effector T cells and melanoma cells, and used CRISPR to systematically edit the melanoma cells.

Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., said the FDA granted priority review to its NDA for the fixed-dose combination of bictegravir (BIC), an integrase strand transfer inhibitor, and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (FTC/TAF), a dual-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors backbone, for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Gilead used a Priority Review Voucher to get their earlier Prescription Drug User Fee Act action date of Feb. 12, 2018. BIC/FTC/TAF is also under review by the EMA, which validated the application in the EU in July.

Kura Oncology Inc., of San Diego, said it priced an underwritten public offering of 7.7 million shares of its common stock at $6.50 each. The company has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.15 million shares of its common stock. The gross proceeds from the offering, excluding any exercise by the underwriters to purchase additional shares, are expected to be approximately $50.1 million.

Achieve Life Sciences Inc., of Bothell, Wash., said the FDA accepted its IND application for cytisine, a plant-based alkaloid with a high binding affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Achieve plans to start a phase III trial in the U.S. testing cytisine as a smoking cessation treatment in the first half of 2018.

Causeway Therapeutics Ltd. has raised £1 million (US$1.3 million) in seed funding to advance a microRNA therapy for treating tendinopathy into the clinic, with a promise of a further £1 million from the investors if certain milestones are met.

HONG KONG – Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. signed a collaborating agreement with the National Cancer Center of Japan to join forces in developing rare cancer cures and genomic medicines.

HONG KONG – With a booming global market for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs, Durect Corp. is on track to deliver a potentially new, profitable product. The company has achieved positive results in its phase III clinical study of the Oradur-methylphenidate extended-release (ER) capsule administered once a day.