Investors watching for signs of M&A activity from Gilead Sciences Inc. could be eyeing the big biotech even more closely after top-line phase II data revealed a missed primary endpoint for hepatitis B virus (HBV) contender GS-4774, prompting speculation that the Foster City, Calif.-based firm could tap other players to shore up its early but promising HBV pipeline.

Shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. continued to fall Wednesday amid a tangle of negative headlines following the decision to terminate the ongoing cardiovascular outcomes trial (CVOT) for obesity drug Contrave (naltrexone and bupropion), as clinical investigators criticized the company’s early release of data and partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. launched a formal dispute process seeking, among other changes, to shift more of the financial responsibility for the cost of a new CVOT to Orexigen.

ATLANTA – Just because we can, should we? One of humanity's age-old questions took center stage at the two-day BEINGS 2015 meeting, during which delegates began laying the groundwork for what is hoped to become a consensus document setting ethical principles, policies and guidelines in the area of cellular biotechnology, which includes stem cell science and the rapidly advancing gene-editing technologies.

The U.S. IPO market continues to generate mixed reviews for biotech this year. As the 16th and 17th IPOs to price on Nasdaq, Colucid Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Adaptimmune Ltd. offered diverging stories, though neither wowed on the first trading day Wednesday.

Promising phase II data reported during last year's American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting helped Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. snag big pharma Bayer Healthcare in an alliance for potential first-in-class factor XI inhibitor that brings the Carlsbad, Calif.-based biotech a whopping $100 million up front.

With the goal of providing the first oral option for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Tyrogenex Inc. launched a phase II study of X-82, a drug that could also be differentiated in the crowded AMD market by its dual action, inhibiting both VEGF and PDGF.

On the heels of a handful of successful gene therapy IPOs and big pharma investments, analysts and investors were looking for the much-anticipated data from Celladon Corp.'s phase IIb CUPID2 trial testing heart failure candidate Mydicar to be a big win for the space.

Transitioning from discovery stage to human proof of concept is the next goal for cancer immunotherapy firm Jounce Therapeutics Inc., which added $56 million in series B funding to advance its pipeline and move into the clinic with a lead program directed against inducible T-cell co-stimulator, or ICOS.