With biopharma IPO volume at a 10-year low, two companies are bucking the trend with plans to plunge into the public market. Bifunctional antibody drug developers Bicara Therapeutics Inc. and Zenas Biopharma Inc. have filed with the SEC to go public though neither has named share-price ranges.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s broad rule banning noncompete employment clauses was struck down by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In a final judgment from Judge Ada Brown, the court set aside the noncompete rule, saying it won’t be enforced or take effect as planned on Sept. 4.
There was more juice to be extracted from the grape that was the very successful Chinook Therapeutics Inc., so two investors have decided to make the most of it. Novartis AG and Versant Ventures have launched Borealis Biosciences Inc. from Chinook’s remnants to develop RNA therapies for treating kidney disease.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s broad rule banning noncompete employment clauses has been struck down by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In a final judgment from Judge Ada Brown, the court set aside the noncompete rule, saying it won’t be enforced or take effect as had been planned on Sept. 4.
In its fifth year of transcription factor discovery, Talus Bioscience Inc. just raised $11.2 million in new venture funding. Seattle-based Talus will use the money to further develop its MARMOT (Multiplexed Assays for the Rational Modulation Of Transcription Factors) platform.
Despite the U.S. FDA’s tentative approval of Liquidia Corp.’s Yutrepia (treprostinil) for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease, the company is stuck in the starting gate. Liquidia said it disagrees with the agency’s stance of simultaneously granting regulatory exclusivity in both indications to United Therapeutics Corp.’s powdered formulation of treprostinil, branded Tyvaso, until May 23, 2025. That means full approval for the inhalation powder won’t come until after that date and neither will a Yutrepia launch.
As mpox has now been found in the EU, the race for an effective vaccine has accelerated, with a study failure but increased vaccine production from Europe. The U.S. NIH just released top-line results from a preliminary analysis of a placebo-controlled study of Siga Technologies Inc.’s antiviral, tecovirimat, showing it missed the primary endpoint of statistically significant improvement within 28 days post-randomization in time to lesion resolution for patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Preliminary results from a phase II study of Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s oncolytic peptide for basal cell carcinoma showed half of the participants had lesions reach complete histologic clearance with no tumor cells left behind. Those who still had tumors saw them shrink 71%. Every participant that received the treatment had a tumor-size reduction of 86%.
Data from an interim analysis have convinced Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc. to stop enrollment in its phase II study of treating newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and retinoid alpha receptor agonist gene overexpression. Analysts seemed unconcerned about the repercussions for Syros’ phase III study in myelodysplastic syndrome.
After many months of jockeying, the U.S. FDA has approved Ascendis Pharma A/S’ hormone replacement therapy Yorvipath (palopegteriparatide) for treating hypoparathyroidism. Ascendis said this is the first and only treatment for adults with the rare endocrine disease.
