No, that’s not a typo. I’m feeling optimistic about fundraising opportunities for small biotechs. Yes, I know we’re seeing venture firms pull back on an almost weekly basis (Prospect Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, etc.). And yes, I know the NVCA said VCs are fleeing life sciences. And yes, I know the initial public offering (IPO) window remains dubious at best. BUT . . . there are some really interesting new options making their way through Congress, as anyone who read either BioWorld Insight or BioWorld Today on Monday already knows. For everyone else, here’s the low-down: H.R. 1070 ? would...
Attention cash-strapped private biotechs: Whether you're struggling to find a bridge across the valley of death or trapped in a windowless venture portfolio, don't give up hope just yet, because four bills making their way through Congress could revolutionize your options for fundraising.
Shares of Alimera Sciences Inc. and partner pSivida Corp. plunged Friday afternoon in the wake of a second complete response letter for diabetic macular edema drug Iluvien (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert).
Medivation Inc.'s strong Phase III survival data for prostate cancer drug MDV-3100 raise two questions. First, can the prostate cancer market support so many players? And second, with the bar for survival edging higher, is there a place for Phase III prostate cancer trials with alternate endpoints, like Exelixis Inc.'s pain-focused study of cabozantinib?Analysts say yes on both counts.While many prostate cancer drugs are starting to come onto the market, they are largely targeting different stages of the disease.
How old is our clinical trial system? The first randomized clinical trial was conducted in 1946. British epidemiologist Sir Austin Bradford Hill used randomization to test a pertussis vaccine and a tuberculosis treatment. But according to an article in the British Medical Journal, the concept of randomization was used even earlier, in agriculture experiments in the 1920s. And even before randomization, controlled clinical trials were taking place as early as 1747, when James Lind conducted an experiment in which groups of sailors with scurvy were given various supplements, including citrus fruits. Yet at the recent Foley & Lardner Life Sciences...
SAN DIEGO – Given the steep decline in third quarter biotech fundraising – down 48 percent from the same period last year – it's no surprise that companies are looking for alternatives. And at the recent Foley & Lardner Life Sciences conference in San Diego, a panel debated the merits of considering mergers and acquisitions as a financing strategy rather than an exit strategy.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. surprised investors Monday morning by unveiling a potential $395 million partnership on lead drug pimavanserin with Biovail Corp. (BioWorld Today)
