Codiak Biosciences Inc. closed a $76.5 million series C, extending its runway in a big way following a combined series A/B that hit $92 million. Initial investors, including Arch Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering, Fidelity Management and Research Co., the Alaska Permanent Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments, participated in the C round, joined by new investors that included Qatar Investment Authority, Boxer Capital of the Tavistock Group, Sirona Capital, Ecor1 Capital and Casdin Capital. Read More

Adding to nature's repertoire through the development of both synthetic bases and synthetic amino acids is a major goal of the field of synthetic biology. This week, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute and Synthorx Inc. reported a milestone on the way to that goal. Read More

The hearing for Alex Azar as the Secretary of Health and Human Services revolved in large part around the drug pricing controversy, and the former drug company executive told a Senate panel that pharmacy benefits managers negotiate drug prices for Medicare Part D, which he said is "the kind of thing where we could save money and improve things for patients" in connection with Part B prescription drugs. Read More

DUBLIN – The founders of the U.K.-listed gene editing technology firm Horizon Discovery plc, Alberto Bardelli and Chris Torrance, have re-emerged in a new startup that has a therapeutic focus. Read More

HONG KONG – Astrazeneca plc has teamed up with the Chinese Future Industry Investment Fund (FIIF) to form a joint venture in China for drug development via an equally owned, stand-alone company named Dizal Pharmaceutical. Read More

PERTH, Australia – Implementing drug and device regulatory reforms that were begun in 2017 will continue to be top priorities for Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration, according to its newly published TGA Business Plan 2017-18. Read More

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc., of Ottawa, said it partnered with an undisclosed manufacturer of controlled active pharmaceutical ingredients in the U.S. for the manufacturing of Dronabinol XL Adversa, as the company accelerates plans to submit a 505(b)(2) NDA for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. Tetra licensed the technology in March from Intelgenx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Saint Laurent, Quebec. Read More

The EMA has issued a guidance to aid pharmaceutical manufacturers in preparations for the Brexit, which the agency said "outlines the practical and simplified requirements" companies can use for applying for changes to marketing authorizations intended to keep those products on the market. Read More

Mavupharma Inc., of Kirkland, Wash., said it secured $20 million in a series A financing led by Frazier Healthcare Partners and joined by Alpine Bioventures. Mavu is developing orally bioavailable, non-nucleotide modulators of the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway to treat cancer and infectious diseases, and the funding will be used primarily to advance Mavu's lead drug candidates into the clinic. Read More

Capricor Therapeutics Inc., of Los Angeles, said the FDA has cleared its investigational new drug application to conduct a trial of CAP-1002, its lead investigational therapy, in boys and young men in advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will be called Hope-2 and is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenous, repeat doses of CAP-1002. Read More