In the U.S., about 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis (CF) – the rare, life-threatening genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and progressively limits the ability to breathe – are diagnosed each year, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
In the U.S., about 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis (CF) – the rare, life-threatening genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and progressively limits the ability to breathe – are diagnosed each year, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. While there are effective therapies that target the symptoms, there are no treatments that will fully restore lung function.
We are only a few days away from the end of the first quarter and it will certainly be a period that the biopharmaceutical sector will want to quickly forget. Year to date, the new BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index, which combines group members from the BioWorld Blue Chip Biotech Index and BioWorld Pharma Index, has tumbled 23 percent – probably the sector's worst start to a year for almost 20 years.
Bannockburn, Ill.-based Baxalta Inc. is helping set the pace toward another active year for partnership and licensing transactions. Late last month the company completed its second deal, reporting it was hooking up with Precision Bioscience Inc. in a potential $1.7 billion, six-target cancer deal centered on its gene editing technology. Baxalta paid $105 million up front with the rest earmarked for milestone payments.
Feb. 29, 2016, marked the ninth year that the international rare disease community celebrated Rare Disease Day, which is designed to focus global attention on the need for therapies to treat patients suffering from devastating rare diseases that have, as yet, no effective treatments and limited research and funding to change the situation.
This year's Groundhog Day could be equally applicable to the biopharmaceutical industry as well as the weather. The furry rodent saw its shadow, indicating an extended period of winter-like conditions. The performance of leading biopharma companies in February has been just as frosty.
The news earlier this month that Wilmington, Del.-based Incyte Corp. was discontinuing a clinical development program investigating its Janus kinase (JAK) 1 inhibitor Jakafi (ruxolitinib) targeting solid tumors sent the company's shares tumbling about 10 percent. It also disappointed patients suffering from pancreatic cancer, who were hoping that a promising new therapy would be available to them.
The fact that approximately 95 percent of the 353 public biopharmaceutical companies tracked by the BioWorld Stock Report saw their share price values fall in January emphasizes just how brutal the equity markets have been so far this year. The prevailing conditions bring back memories of the chaotic markets experienced back in 2008 during the global financial meltdown.
The fact that approximately 95 percent of the 353 public biopharmaceutical companies tracked by the BioWorld Stock Report saw their share price values fall in January emphasizes just how brutal the equity markets have been so far this year. The prevailing conditions bring back memories of the chaotic markets experienced back in 2008 during the global financial meltdown. This time around the markets have been derailed by fears of a flagging global economy and a world drowning in an oversupply of crude oil with producers unwilling to turn off the tap.
In its earnings call, John Martin, chairman and CEO, and soon to be executive chairman, of biopharmaceutical company heavyweight Gilead Sciences Inc., described 2015 as an "exceptional year" for the company, which experienced progress on a number of therapeutic fronts including HIV and hepatitis. The Foster City, Calif.-based company reported an increase in total revenues for both the fourth quarter of 2015 and full year beating Wall Street estimates.
