Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) fell back in the immuno-oncology (I-O) pack last year after reporting that its blockbuster, Opdivo (nivolumab), failed to achieve statistically significant progression-free survival (PFS) in the phase III CHECKMATE-026 trial testing the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor as a monotherapy vs. platinum-based chemo in patients with first-line non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express PD-L1 at greater than 5 percent.
Nektar Therapeutics Inc. looked to take the upper hand in partnering talks for NKTR-181, its mu-opioid agonist, after the molecule proved its mettle in a phase III study in more than 600 patients with moderate to severe chronic low back pain who were new to opioid therapy.
With multiple phase II studies of lead compound, mipsagargin (G-202), under its belt, Inspyr Therapeutics Inc. (formerly Genspera Inc.) inked an agreement with private equity firm Milost Global Inc. for up to $100 million to fund the next stage of development.
One day after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) penned a four-page letter to Stephen Ostroff, acting commissioner of the FDA, questioning "the unusual circumstances" involving last month's approval of Emflaza (deflazacort), the drug's sponsor, Marathon Pharmaceuticals LLC, agreed to sell the DMD therapy to PTC Therapeutics Inc. for $140 million.
Briacell Therapeutics Corp. hasn't exactly advanced its only asset, Briavax, with lightning speed. Instead, the cancer vaccine sat on the shelf for much of a decade while its inventor, Charles Wiseman, an oncologist affiliated with St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, tried to scrape together funding.
Peloton Therapeutics Inc. exercised an optional $22.2 million tranche of its series D round, closed in September 2016 at $52.4 million, to extend the runway for its hypoxia inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2 alpha) antagonists, which are targeting renal and other solid tumors.
Members of the osteoarthritis (OA) community came together last week under the banner of the Arthritis Foundation for the first externally led Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) meeting to address the indication.
Like the fusion of two Indian words to form its name, Vedantra Pharmaceuticals Inc. is seeking to blend multiple technology platforms to develop therapeutic vaccines that target cancer and infectious disease.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a topic that just won't go away, and for good reason. Despite the plethora of threats facing humankind, including thousands of diseases in need of therapies or cures, many scientists worry that the biggest risk of extinction comes from the deadly pathogens that exist in uneasy cohabitation on planet Earth. Tensions mounted in 2015 after the mcr-1 gene was detected on plasmids in China and Europe and were heightened last year with the first U.S. case of a patient with an infection resistant to a last-resort antibiotic.
Spero Therapeutics LLC completed a $51.7 million series C preferred financing led by new investor GV (formerly Google Ventures) with the participation of additional new investors RA Capital Management and Rock Springs Capital as well as existing investors, including Atlas Venture, S.R. One Ltd., MRL Ventures Fund, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, the Kraft Group and Osage University Partners.
