Companies that emerge from academic institutions enjoy the special advantage of intimate familiarity with a new molecular entity or drug platform but also face the special challenge of contending with bigger and better financed organizations. That's true even for portfolio companies nurtured in respected biotech incubators, such as Sweden's Karolinska Development.

Ipsen SA plucked Canbex Therapeutics Ltd. in its prime, gaining an exclusive option to purchase the small University College London (UCL) spin-off and forestall a potential competitor to its Dysport (abobotulinumtoxin A) franchise to treat spasticity across a range of neuromuscular conditions.

Despite fourth quarter and full-year financial results that topped analyst expectations, Alkermes plc saw shares (NASDAQ:ALKS) slide Tuesday after the company halted development of pain candidate ALKS 7106 following disappointing phase I results.

Cellectis SA, which last month disclosed plans to file for an IPO of American Depositary Shares (ADS) on the U.S. markets, dropped its paperwork, indicating it will seek to raise up to $115 million, including overallotments, and a listing on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker CLLS. The Paris-based company trades on the Alternext market of the Euronext Paris under the symbol ALCLS.

Consumers are frustrated with the pace of drug and medical device development, and they want more engagement with industry and regulators at every step of the process, from trial design to FDA review. Savvy biopharmas and medical device manufacturers would be wise to heed that call by incorporating input from patients at every stage of development and sharing that feedback with the FDA as part of regulatory filings.

Named for a type of duck but definitely lacking any waddle in its step, Merganser Biotech Inc. made a big splash in the rare disease pond by reeling in a $28 million series A round led by the Novartis Venture Fund and joined by Frazier Healthcare, Sutter Hill Ventures and Osage University Partners.

Shares of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson slumped late last week after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued a final rejection of U.S. Patent No. 6,284,471 ('471), relating to the blockbuster Remicade (infliximab), following a reexamination of the patent, which is due to expire in September 2018.

Nearly a year to the day after bursting on the scene with a $45 million series A financing, Voyager Therapeutics Inc. landed a potential $845 million deal with Genzyme, a unit of Sanofi SA, of Paris, to discover, develop and commercialize gene therapies for severe central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Days after the FDA approved the blockbuster Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) in a fourth indication – diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) – up-and-comer Pfenex Inc. inked a deal with global giant Hospira Inc. to advance its biosimilar competitor, PF582.