Neos Therapeutics Inc.'s upsized series C financing – from $15.5 million to $18 million – along with a $20 million loan facility with Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc. means the firm will "not only have enough money to hit the key regulatory milestones over the next 12-15 months, but to give us financial flexibility into 2016," said Victor Miller, vice president of finance.
As Tuesday wore on, skepticism gave way regarding success for the hostile try by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., with help from the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., to take over Allergan Inc. in a deal valued at about $45 billion. But the merger is by no means a deal.
Breaking the silence that has prevailed since last November on the upshot of ongoing talks with the FDA regarding eteplirsen, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. said the FDA's once-dim view of data with the exon-skipping candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has changed.
In stealth mode until about six months ago, Nora Therapeutics Inc. raised $18 million in series B cash to expand the development of NT100 into a second phase II trial in women with unexplained recurrent loss of pregnancy.
Epirus Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s all-stock takeover of Zalicus Inc., disclosed on the same day that Epirus put the wraps on a $36 million series B round, will add early stage pain drug candidates to its pipeline of biosimilars and immediately put some joy back into Zalicus' shares (NASDAQ:ZLCS), which closed Wednesday at $1.35, up 32 cents, or 31 percent.
About 13 years ago, when Amber Salzman's son and two nephews were diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a genetic brain disorder, she didn't know much about rare diseases at all. That's changed for the CEO of Paris-based AAVLife, which – with $12 million in series A money – is taking aim at another: Friedreich's ataxia (FA).
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s phase II data with oral LX4211 in type 1 diabetes could be just enough to "transport" the company into the sweet deal that investors have been waiting for.
Regado Biosciences Inc. aims to fuel with $60 million in fresh funding the phase III trial begun last year, testing the anticoagulant REG1 in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Called Regulate PCI, the study is comparing REG1 to Angiomax (bivalirudin, The Medicines Co.) with a primary endpoint based on a composite of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke and urgent target lesion revascularization through day three following the procedure.
Merck & Co. Inc. nearly stole the show at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) meeting in London with results from an ongoing phase II trial testing its all-oral combo drug for hepatitis C virus (HCV), but other firms kept the program lively, as Gilead Sciences Inc. held onto rock-star status. Mostly.
