In spite of increased biotech valuations providing for access to capital through the equity markets, the market for capital from the sale of royalties and structured debt tied to product sales is as hot as it's ever been.
Neither snow in Boston nor a drought in California could stop venture capitalists from handing out cash in the first quarter to start-ups and established private companies alike.
With different mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) causing different severities of the disease and requiring different drugs to increase protein function, cystic fibrosis (CF) is the poster child of precision medicine.
Like the basketball Atlantic Coast Conference, the other ACC, the American College of Cardiology, ramps up this time of year with its annual scientific session.
SAN DIEGO – The capital flowing in the public markets makes it easier for biotechs to gain funding through IPOs and secondary offerings. Companies raised $6.5 billion through IPOs last year and more established public companies were able to add nearly $16.7 billion to their coffers according to BioWorld Snapshots.
As part of his proposed budget, President Barack Obama recommended spending $215 million on a Precision Medicine Initiative. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 2, 2015.)
The approval of Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A.'s and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc.'s Contrave (naltrexone and bupropion) in September and Saxenda (liraglutide) from Novo Nordisk A/S last month doubled the number of obesity drugs approved by the FDA in the last two and a half years.
Both Merck & Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo (nivolumab) were approved by the FDA to treat advanced metastatic melanoma last year, but that’s only the start of the possibilities for the PD-1 pathway drugs. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 5, 2014.)
