While headlines, social media and news reports are buzzing with the latest poll numbers and the he said/she saids of the U.S. presidential campaign, what happens in Congress could have a bigger impact on the biopharma and med-tech universe. Read More
Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ICPT) fell nearly 16.5 percent to close at $98.20 on Thursday as the company reported third-quarter revenue of $5.2 million, primarily attributed to its biliary cholangitis (PBC) therapy, Ocaliva (obeticholic acid), sales of which narrowly missed analyst expectations. Net losses at the New York-based company totaled $88.8 million vs. about $51 million in the third quarter of 2015, a period before Intercept made the jump to being a commercial company. Read More
Researchers have been able to significantly improve the heart function of guinea pigs after an experimentally induced heart attack by transplanting the animals with sheets of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human heart cells. Read More
Epizyme Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., provided an update on new trials with tazemetostat, its EZH2 inhibitor. Combination studies with Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and R-CHOP therapy have started, and the phase Ib combination study with anti-PD-L1 antibody Tecentriq in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has initiated in collaboration with Roche Holding AG, of Basel, Switzerland. Read More
Zucara Therapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said it received a C$525,000 (US$391,866) investment from Canadian partners: Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator, The Centre for Drug Research and Development and MaRS Innovation. Zucara is a preclinical-stage company working on a long-term approach to prevent hypoglycemia in patients with diabetes. The company said it plans to seek series A funding next year to take it through clinical studies, set to start in 2018. Read More
Acasti Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said the firm applied and received authorization to change its stock ticker to ACST on the TSX Venture Exchange, effective Nov. 8. The change was made due to the recent introduction of four-letter root symbols on the TXSV. Read More
MELBOURNE, Australia – Some big deals in the biopharma space in Australia over the last year have gotten the attention of big pharma, and the sector is keyed up over the courtship possibilities. Read More
LONDON – A number of cell-based cancer immunotherapies are months from being filed with regulators, but, in the rush to prove safety and efficacy, manufacturing issues have been overlooked. Read More
