Another Atlas Venture-seeded biotech is out the door, $24 million series A in hand. Raze Therapeutics has mapped out the bold mission of pioneering a class of cancer therapeutics designed to halt tumor growth and survival by targeting mitochondrial one-carbon (1C) metabolism.
Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan put the world on notice Tuesday that the small country will no longer be the tax haven of choice for multinational companies. In comments to parliament reported by Reuters, Noonan said he was abolishing the ability of corporations to use the so-called "double-Irish" tax practice that has abetted what he called "aggressive tax planning" by multinational firms.
As Gilead Sciences Inc. began the roll-out for its newly approved hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug, Harvoni, following FDA approval Friday, analysts continued to weigh in on prospects for the once-daily pill, which combines a dose of sofosbuvir – the active ingredient in the company's blockbuster HCV drug Sovaldi – with ledipasvir, a direct-acting macrocyclic antiviral agent and inhibitor of NS5A serine protease.
Amgen Inc. put the biopharma world on notice by disclosing positive findings from the first phase III study evaluating efficacy and safety of its lead biosimilar candidate.
Four months ago, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. took an option to develop and commercialize MGD010, a preclinical asset developed in-house by Macrogenics Inc. that uses its Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (DART) technology to simultaneously engage the B-cell surface proteins CD32B and CD79B, targeting autoimmune diseases.
Actavis plc is purchasing infectious disease specialist Durata Therapeutics Inc. for $23 per share in cash, or approximately $675 million, plus contingent value rights (CVR) of up to $5 per share in additional cash payments linked to regulatory and commercial milestones for Durata's lead product, Dalvance (dalbavancin).
Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA have called off their $2.6 billion merger, which would have made Salix a wholly owned subsidiary of Cosmo Technologies Ltd., an Irish subsidiary of Cosmo. In a statement, Salix president and CEO Carolyn Logan cited the "uncertainty" created by the "changed political environment" after the U.S. Treasury proposed plans last month to make corporate tax inversions less attractive and even to halt such deals.
Established a dozen years ago, Domainex Ltd. is familiar to drug developers – especially in the UK, where the company spun out of University College London – as a contract research organization.
The same trio of investors – Vivo Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences and Sofinnova Ventures – that lined up in 2012 behind a $21 million series A for Aclaris Therapeutics Inc. repeated the drill Thursday, plowing another $21 million into the company's series B with the goal of moving lead compound, A-101, to a new drug application (NDA) filing.
