Second Genome Inc. brought on board its first big pharma partner, signing Janssen Biotech Inc. to a multiyear deal focused on using the San Bruno, Calif.-based biotech's microbiome modulation platform to discover drugs for ulcerative colitis.
Much-awaited data from Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp.'s mid-stage GALAXY-1 study left investors less than satisfied, as shares of the Lexington, Mass.-based biotech dropped 34 percent.
While last year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting ended on cautiously encouraging advances in the cancer immunotherapy space, this year's meeting has put immunotherapy front and center, thanks in part to much-awaited data on and anti-PDL-1 and anti-PD-1 drugs from Roche AG and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., respectively. (See BioWorld Today, June 6, 2012.)
London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc snagged a next-generation T-cell vaccine platform and several promising early stage candidates in its buyout of Swiss firm Okairos AG for €250 million (US$323.8 million).
Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said its two pivotal studies of budesonide foam in active to moderate ulcerative proctitis (UP) or ulcerative proctosigmoiditis (UPS) hit the primary endpoints, with a statistically significant number of patients in the treatment arm achieving clinical remission vs. placebo.
For more than half a decade, researchers have understood translation to be a key step in gene expression, but it's only recently that drugmakers have begun looking at restoring translational control as a means of treating disease.
As sales of Incyte Corp.'s approved JAK inhibitor Jakafi (ruxolitinib) begin to pick up steam, a competing myelofibrosis candidate from Sanofi SA moved a step closer to market.
Despite losing a potentially lucrative FLT3 inhibitor partnership with Astellas Pharma Inc. barely two months ago, Ambit Biosciences Corp. forged ahead with its initial public offering (IPO). The San Diego-based biotech priced about 8.1 million shares at $8 apiece for gross proceeds of about $65 million.
Development of Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s triple-acting prostate cancer drug galeterone got a $35.5 million boost, with the Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech closing a Series E round with current investors Apple Tree Partners and Novartis Venture Funds, as well as undisclosed angel investors.
Dyax Corp. is more than doubling its cash position with a $30 million registered direct offering, with proceeds to fund R&D activities, namely clinical development of DX-2930, a drug slated to start clinical development for prophylactic use in hereditary angioedema (HAE).
