Although hopes had not been high for the Phase II study in first-line non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to begin with, and the company – after talking with the FDA – still plans to go ahead with a Phase III trial, investors looked askance at Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s latest snag with the cancer drug bavituximab.
Cytokinetics Inc.'s deal with Astellas Pharma Inc. to develop skeletal muscle activators for weakness-related disorders preserves rights to tirasemtiv for the biotech firm, and focuses on the follow-on compound, CK-212707 (or CK-107, as it's more often known), providing $40 million for Cytokinetics during the first two years, with potential milestone payments up to $450 million.
The death of a patient in trials with tosedostat for blood-related cancer cast a pall over Cell Therapeutics Inc.'s shares when investors learned of the partial clinical hold, placed on the compound June 17.
3-V Biosciences Inc.'s $20 million Series C financing will push the lead cancer product, a fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitor, through Phase I trials, while boosting preclinical studies with leads in virology – the research area on which the company was founded in 2007.
Plowing ahead with the second Phase III trial to evaluate Androxal (enclomiphene), the estrogen receptor antagonist for secondary hypogonadism, Repros Therapeutics Inc. priced an underwritten public offering of about 3.7 million shares at $19 each, grossing about $71.2 million.
Bluebird Bio Inc.'s above-the-range initial public offering (IPO) sold about 5.9 million shares at $17 each to raise $101 million for a gene therapy strategy that deploys stem cells harvested from the patient's bone marrow, and the lead program is slated to kick off a Phase II/III trial late this year in childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD), caused by the buildup of fatty acids that damages the myelin sheath.
Eli Lilly and Co.'s decision to stop its Phase II study with LY2886721, a beta secretase (BACE) inhibitor as a potential once-daily treatment for slowing Alzheimer's disease (AD), was "sad news, obviously," said Decision Resources analyst Georgiana Kuhlmann.
Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) planned takeover of Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $650 million in cash and $350 million more in potential milestone payments brings aboard the Phase III-ready ARN-509 for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) behind the pharma firm's approved androgen inhibitor Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) for the same indication.
Mast Therapeutics Inc.'s $22.9 million from a public offering will fund the second Phase III trial with the sickle cell disease candidate MST-188, a purified form of a nonionic, triblock copolymer (poloxamer 188) that was first developed for the treatment of heart attacks.
For Celgene Corp., entering Japan proved a relatively brisk venture, said Jerome Zeldis, the company's chief medical officer, but China – where Celgene also has established itself, and is launching Revlimid (lenalidomide) this week – represents something more of a challenge for biotech and pharma firms.
