A rush of biotechs entered the public market Thursday morning, led by a $102 million upsized initial public offering (IPO) by Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc., which priced at the high end of its previously raised range, selling 6 million shares at $17 apiece and receiving an enthusiastic welcome on Nasdaq. Read More
Health care investment firm Ally Bridge Group, which has offices in Hong Kong and the U.S., warmed up to Cold Genesys Inc., funding the cancer immunotherapy firm's $13.6 million series A. The Newport Beach, Calif., biotech has advanced its lead program, CG0070, into a phase II/III trial in patients with high-risk carcinoma in situ nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Read More
Wouldn't the NSA just love to have this – if they don't already, that is: a see-through organism. That's what Caltech researchers describe in the July 31, 2014, issue of Cell. Read More
LONDON – After a "bake-off" between rival sequencing technologies, the UK government is announcing Friday a £78 million (US$132 million) contract with Illumina Inc. to deliver the equipment and services for its 100,000 Genomes Project. Read More
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Medigen Biotechnology Corp. said following a meeting Sunday with an independent committee to discuss results midway through the multinational phase III trial for PI-88, the company's adjuvant treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection, preliminary results showed no improvement of survival rates over placebo. Read More
It's not set in stone yet, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is proposing a voluntary, global naming scheme for biologics, both novel and biosimilar. Read More
The FDA is expected to publish in Friday's Federal Register the notice establishing the user fees for fiscal year 2015, with the rates for drugs, biologics and biosimilars all seeing increases over fiscal year 2014. Read More
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., of Haifa, Israel, said it completed the approval process and received final clearance from Israel's Ministry of Health for its 3D cell therapy manufacturing processes in use at its facility in Haifa. Read More
Cara Therapeutics Inc., of Shelton, Conn., started a human abuse liability trial of an intravenous formulation of its peripherally selective kappa opioid agonist, CR845. Read More
Incyte Corp., of Wilmington, Del., reported second quarter revenues from sales of myelofibrosis drug Jakafi (ruxolitinib) totaling $84 million, compared to $54.1 million for the same period last year, representing 55 percent growth. Read More
Meda AB, of Goteberg, Sweden, said it plans to acquire Rottapharm Madaus SpA, of Monza, Italy, for SEK21.2 billion (US$3.1 billion), which includes net debt of SEK2.8 billion for an implied equity value of SEK18.4 billion. Read More
