For Poseida Therapeutics Inc., a new global license agreement with Janssen Biotech Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell-based therapies is a signal that "everything's unfolding according to plan," observed Eric Ostertag, Poseida's founder and CEO.
Last week, Astrazeneca plc tapped Mirati Therapeutics Inc. for a partnership that will explore a pairing of the spectrum-selective histone deacetylase, or HDAC, blocker mocetinostat with the anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) candidate durvalumab (MEDI4736).
LSK Biopharma inked an exclusive license agreement with the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) to develop and commercialize HCI-1401, an orally bioavailable, small-molecule, irreversible inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK).
The first sites are screening patients in the pivotal U.S. phase III trial of ECCS-50, the adipose-derived regenerative cell (ADRC) therapy developed by Cytori Therapeutics Inc., in the lead indication of scleroderma.
Arch Venture Partners, Ecor1 Capital, Polaris Partners and Venbio lined up behind Metacrine Inc., a start-up seeking to apply endocrine research to metabolic disease.
The active drug, levetiracetam, isn't new, but FDA approval of Spritam to treat certain forms of epilepsy guaranteed a spot in biopharma history for Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Co., which became the first company to bring a drug product using three-dimensional printing (3DP) through the approval process.
With a biologics license application (BLA) for BAX 111 (vonicog alfa) already pending at the FDA, investigators for the phase III study of the Baxalta Inc. therapy, branded Vonvendi, reported that 100 percent of patients treated with the recombinant, glycosylated von Willebrand factor (PSA-rvWF) achieved success in controlling bleeding.
Considering its relatively inconspicuous presence in the body, the pancreas can wreak havoc on human health through two major diseases: diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Both can be deadly – the former from the condition itself or from long-term complications and the latter from advanced disease that may be symptomatic for only months or even weeks. Neither has a cure.
