Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. raised AU$16 million (US$10.31 million) in a placement that will allow the company to start a global phase III trial with its lead product, Zilosul (injectable pentosan polysulfate/iPPS), to treat osteoarthritis.
Bionomics is progressing BNC-210 to phase III trials in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following positive feedback from the U.S. FDA. Final data from the phase II Attune study showed that BNC-210 improved PTSD symptom severity at week 12 with efficacy observed as early as week four.
Arovella Therapeutics Ltd. is heading toward the clinic with its lead product, ALA-101, which consists of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting CD19 and invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells.
Radiopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has inked a deal worth up to AU$264 million (US$171 million) to license and develop next-generation radiopharma imaging and therapy technology targeting fibroblast activation proteins found in a wide range of cancers.
When it comes to cell therapy, Alloplex Biotherapeutics Inc. CEO Frank Borriello said he believes that autologous, personalized therapy is the only thing that makes sense. “The allure of an off-the-shelf therapy has been such a magnet. It sucked in a lot of companies into that dream, and I'm sorry to say, it hasn't really worked out for them,” he told BioWorld. Instead, Borriello said he envisioned a cell training platform that doesn’t just tweak a single immune pathway but instead harnesses multiple immune pathways to turn the tables on cancer.
For the first time, Australians have access to CSL Inc.’s Vazkepa (icosapent ethyl/Vascepa) for managing cardiovascular disease more than a decade after the drug was first approved in the U.S.
Clarity Pharmaceuticals Ltd. will begin early next year its pivotal phase III trial for its copper-based radiopharmaceutical, 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA, for diagnosing prostate cancer in patients with biochemical recurrence following positive U.S. FDA feedback.
When Andrew Wilks invented the JAK inhibitor momelotinib in the late 1980s for myelofibrosis, he never would have imagined it would take more than 20 years to develop and eventually be acquired for $1.9 billion. Today he’s on a mission to ensure Australian inventors have more options than he did, telling BioWorld that he had to sell the molecule for around $10 million because he couldn’t get funding.
Immunotherapy company Cartherics Pty Ltd. raised AU$15 million (US$10.3 million) in an oversubscribed series B round that will support the first clinical trial for lead chimeric antigen receptor natural killer therapy CTH-401 for ovarian cancer, and to expand its pipeline to include other diseases.
One of Australia’s newest biotech investment funds is set to triple investments on the back of its success and strong investor demand. The three-year old Merchant Biotech Fund (MBF) invested in several high growth ASX-listed and private life sciences companies and finished the past financial year up more than 70%. It is up 10% for the current financial year, Portfolio Manager Reece O'Connell told BioWorld.
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