The global biopharmaceutical sector generated $16 billion in the third quarter of the year, adding to the almost $38 billion it raised in the first half of the year. According to BioWorld data, the collective $54 billion the sector has brought in at the three quarter post is 4 percent more than the total it raised at this point last year. The sector is poised to post a record year for the amount of cash it hauled in and to top the $69 billion raised in 2015. Read More
Histogenics Corp., of Waltham, Mass., said it priced an underwritten public offering of 26.15 million shares and warrants to purchase up to 19.61 million shares at a combined purchase price of 65 cents each. The gross proceeds are expected to be $17 million, and the company intends to use the net proceeds to complete the biologics license application submission relating to Neocart, an autologous neocartilage tissue implant that utilizes a patient's own cells to regenerate articular cartilage in the knee, and prepare for commercialization of the product following potential approval by the FDA. Read More
Calithera Biosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, said it inked two clinical trial collaborations involving its glutaminase inhibitor CB-839 with New York-based Pfizer Inc. to test CB-839 plus Ibrance (palbociclib) and CB-839 plus PARP inhibitor talazoparib. As part of the collaboration, Pfizer will provide palbociclib and talazoparib, as well as financial support. Read More
San Diego-based Viking Therapeutics Inc. enjoyed an 87 percent stock hike in September when the company disclosed that, relative to placebo, its thyroid receptor beta agonist VK-2809 reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lowered liver fat in people with elevated LDL-C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The top-line phase II data suggest the drug may be effective in battling the progressive form of NAFLD, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Read More
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have shown that in a mouse model, silencing mutant Huntingtin protein with antisense oligonucleotides was not just effective against the motor problems that are the most salient part of Huntington's chorea (HD), but could also prevent and even reverse the equally troubling cognitive and psychiatric symptoms that are part of the disease. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Feeling unloved by Wall Street, undercompensated by payers and abandoned by big pharma, members of the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG) and other key stakeholders gathered Friday morning at IDWeek to chart a path out of dire market circumstances. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly half of outpatient antibiotics are prescribed without an infection-related diagnosis, according to a new study, funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Though overprescribing of antibiotics is already a high-profile issue, the study is thought to be the first to look at overall outpatient antibiotic prescribing. It analyzed more than a half million prescriptions from 514 outpatient clinics. Read More
Researchers from Korea National University have identified the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) as a contributor to increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, resulting in neurocognitive dysfunction, during aging. Read More
