The U.S. FDA has removed the partial clinical hold it placed in April 2022, prompted by a patient’s death, on Curis Inc.’s phase I/IIa study of emavusertib in treating leukemia. The company also said it just raised $15 million to keep everything going.
Ascidian Therapeutics Inc. secured $50 million in series A funding from its founder Apple Tree Partners to take a therapy based on its RNA exon editing technology into a first-in-human trial in ABCA4 retinopathy and to advance additional programs in neuromuscular, neurological, and rare disease indications.
Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc., one of the early leaders in developing small-molecule drugs that target RNA, closed out the year with yet another big pharma partnering deal, an alliance with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., in which it is getting $40 million up front plus up to $2.2 billion more in milestones and royalties on product sales.