Formerly known as Chanrx Corp., Laguna Pharmaceuticals Inc. raised $30 million in series B money for phase III work in atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter with vanoxerine, moving operations from Cleveland to San Diego while bringing aboard as CEO well-known biotech player Bob Baltera.
Readying for another run against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with its fast skeletal muscle troponin activator tirasemtiv, Cytokinetics Inc. heartened Wall Street with strong earnings and what looks like a solid plan for the phase III experiment.
With a satisfying year of revenues from Ampyra (dalfampridine) under its belt, Acorda Therapeutics Inc. has declared readiness to take on not only challenges from generic drugmakers but, most recently, an inter partes review (IPR) petition by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass.
Taken from a standpoint that was hysterical to one that's more historical, Wall Street began warming up to Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc.'s sales of ferric citrate.
Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s blisibimod, a peptibody that targets B-cell activating factor (BAFF) for lupus, slid past the interim futility analysis in the phase III trial CHABLIS-SC1, sending shares on an upward ride that ended Tuesday with the stock (NASDAQ:ANTH) closing at $3.25.
In the fast-advancing hepatitis C virus (HCV) space, to make a splash isn't easy, as Regulus Therapeutics Inc. proved by unveiling phase I data that hold promise but were met by Wall Street with a lukewarm, wait-and-see attitude.
Going it alone with the oral, once-daily factor Xa inhibitor betrixaban, for which Merck & Co. Inc. handed back rights in 2011, Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. marches ahead, following a pre-specified futility analysis by the APEX phase III trial's monitoring board.
G1 Therapeutics Inc.'s $33 million in series B money gives the firm "flexibility to hang onto [the lead program] and continue to move it further into development on our own," said CEO Mark Velleca.
What was described last week by Roche Holding AG CEO Severin Schwan as a "chance for readouts" this year with anti-CD20 therapy Gazyva (obinutuzumab) came to pass in a big way, as Roche unit Genentech scored a phase III win in the indolent form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a slow-growing type of the disease in which patients are prone to multiple relapses.
Chemically separating the antifungal efficacy of the amphotericin B scaffold from the mechanism that can lead to kidney damage – thus creating more potency without harm – is among the first projects of Revolution Medicines Inc., expected to disclose its $45 million round of series A financing Wednesday.
