Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, agreed to conduct a private placement from institutional investors of approximately 8.2 million units priced at $2.015 apiece for gross proceeds of about $16.5 million. Read More
Escend Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., said its lead compound, ES-3000, received orphan drug designation from the FDA to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. Read More
Corcept Therapeutics Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., reported preliminary efficacy data from its phase I/II trial of mifepristone to treat patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Read More
Stimulating the G protein-coupled receptor GPR171 increased food intake in rodents, and mice lacking the receptor in the hypothalamus were less sensitive to the effects of a GPR171-stimulating small molecule. Read More
Oxonc Development LP, of Seoul, South Korea, reported that Study OO-1201, a phase II, open-label, single-arm trial testing crizotinib in East Asian patients with ROS1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, met its primary objective of demonstrating an overall response rate of 69 percent. Read More
BOGOTA, Colombia – A political U-turn in Argentina last year has led to a sudden burst of confidence in the future of the country's biotech sector and could set the stage for rapid growth in the future. Read More
Shares of Lion Biotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ:LBIO) climbed 43.4 percent to $8.65 on Friday as the cancer immunotherapy developer announced the appointment of new President and CEO Maria Fardis and a $100 million equity financing led by Quogue Capital, Orbimed Advisors, Frazier Healthcare Partners and Broadfin Capital. Read More
After having its abstract on a phase II trial in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) named one of the "best" slated for roll-out at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting that had just begun in Chicago, Immunomedics Inc. was informed that the presentation was being dropped, apparently because officials believed the dataset had been made public earlier, violating the premier cancer meeting's embargo policy. Read More
CHICAGO – Representing the first biosimilar to demonstrate equivalency to blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) in a phase III trial, MYL-14010 hit the mark on all fronts, showing similar response rates, comparable adverse events and low immunogenicity. Read More
CHICAGO – Tumor evolution is a bane of targeted therapies. But Charles Swanton said he thinks that with a better understanding of the tumor evolutionary rulebook, it could be turned into a boon for their rational deployment. Read More
CEO Stanley Erck told BioWorld Today that Novavax Inc. is shifting focus to generate "much more broadly neutralizing antibodies which should – we have to demonstrate this in humans – make for a better flu vaccine," as the firm sets aside its virus-like particle (VLP)-based seasonal influenza candidate in favor of pursuing a nanoparticle-based prospect. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – The crossover party is all but over. Pure public players have moved upstream. Companies that went public as recently as 2014 are going belly-up. And a hyperbolic presidential election campaign has turned the industry's life-saving mission into a source of public controversy. Read More
