Two weeks after disappointing the Street with higher-than-expected adverse event (AE) rates in its phase II trial of XP23829 in moderate to severe chronic plaque-type psoriasis, Xenoport Inc. changed course in dramatic fashion. Bowing to analyst recommendations, the company halted internal development of XP23829 while seeking to outlicense the candidate and other development-stage assets to focus, instead, on maximizing the commercial value of Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil).
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) pulled a coup in cancer therapeutics by garnering the first FDA approval of a regimen that combines two of its checkpoint inhibitors and launching the eagerly awaited coupling of cancer immunotherapies.
Both the name and mission at Flx Bio Inc. are clear throwbacks to predecessor Flexus Biosciences Inc., which was picked up in February by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) in a potential $1.25 billion takeover that included $800 million up front.
Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was quietly incorporated late last year with a $33.5 million series A, doubled down in its second raise, closing a $75 million series B from a syndicate led by Rock Springs Capital Management that included Fidelity Management and Research Co., Blackrock, accounts managed by T. Rowe Price, Jennison Associates on behalf of certain clients, Roche Venture Fund, Cormorant Asset Management, Sphera Funds Management, Venbio Select and Cowen Private Investments.
His disappointment palpable, Robert Forrester, Verastem Inc.'s president and CEO, told analysts Monday morning that the decision to halt the phase II study, COMMAND, of lead candidate VS-6063 (defactinib) for futility in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) was a blow not just to development plans by the Boston-based company but also to physicians and patients, who have few options to treat the aggressive cancer.
Aduro Biotech Inc. crafted a nifty acquisition deal with Bionovion Holding BV that provided investors in the Dutch biotech with up-front cash and a stake in the combined company while combining synergistic pipelines to create the potential for exponential growth in immuno-oncology (IO) combination therapies.
Partners Amgen Inc. and Allergan plc said the phase III study of ABP 215 – a biosimilars candidate to Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech Inc./Roche AG) and the first in the oncology collaboration to complete a late-stage trial – met its primary and secondary endpoints in comparing efficacy and safety to the reference drug in adults with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. saw its prospects rise, along with its stock price, after the FDA granted a special protocol assessment (SPA) for the newly launched phase III PIVOT (AP-003-B) trial of co-lead candidate Ampion (aspartyl-alanyl diketopiperazine) to treat pain and inflammation due to osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK).
Shares of Tracon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:TCON) soared 36 percent Friday after the company reported a complete response (CR) in a single-patient compassionate use phase II study of its anticancer candidate, TRC105, in the rare indication of choriocarcinoma, an aggressive form of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN).
