Continuing a flurry of dealmaking that has spanned both the generic and branded drug markets, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. inked its latest deal, a North American alliance with Korean firm Celltrion Inc. aimed at expanding its role in the growing biosimilars space.
With Alzheimer's-focused spinout Axovant Sciences Ltd. currently holding the record for largest biopharma IPO – last year's $362 million raise – another Roivant Ltd.-launched firm is testing the public markets.
With top-line data from a potential registrational trial in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients with cirrhosis not coming until the end of 2017, investors were seeking some positive signs from an exploratory phase II study of Galectin Therapeutics Inc.'s galectin-3-targeted candidate, GR-MD-02, in NASH fibrosis.
Two established biopharma execs and a repurposed drug with a wealth of safety data and promising efficacy in a randomized study netted startup Orbus Therapeutics Inc. $32.5 million in series A funding last year.
Reports of a fifth patient experiencing immune-related adverse events is prompting Mirna Therapeutics Inc. to close out its phase I trial testing microRNA mimic MRX34 and to "reassess where we stand with our pipeline now," according to President and CEO Paul Lammers, a disclosure that sent shares of Mirna (NASDAQ:MIRN) down 47 cents, or 19 percent, to close Wednesday at $2.
Vical Inc. and partner Astellas Pharma Inc. remain hopeful for positive data from an ongoing phase III study testing cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine ASP0113 in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients, set to read out late next year, despite the product's phase II miss in solid organ transplant patients.
Shares of Geron Corp. hit a 52-week low Monday as investors found an interim update on the phase II program of telomerase inhibitor imetelstat less than encouraging.
To name a company Visionary Pharmaceuticals Inc. and refer to the leadership team as "world changers" takes a certain degree of confidence. And so far, the small, 2010 San Diego-based startup appears to be living up to that promise.
Though analysts are keen to drill down into data from the phase II DUET study testing sparsentan in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare and idiopathic kidney disorder, the better-than-expected top-line results were sufficient to send shares of Retrophin Inc. (NASDAQ:RTRX) soaring by as much as 44 percent Wednesday, before closing at $20.81, up 27.5 percent.
Last year, Synageva Biopharma Corp. went to Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in one of the year's biggest buyouts – an $8.4 billion cash and stock deal notable for its whopping 140 percent premium. With the ink barely dry on that deal, the former execs of the rare disease firm decided they were ready for another round, regrouping to create new startup Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals.
