Autolus Ltd., of London, acquired global rights to AUT-O1, a CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy designed to reduce side effects related to cytokine release syndrome, from UCL Business plc, the technology-transfer company of University College London. Read More
HONG KONG – U.S.-based Tocagen Inc. granted Apollobio Corp., of Beijing, an exclusive license to develop and commercialize its immunotherapy for brain tumors in the greater China region. The license is expected to take effect in the second quarter. Read More
Call it bad timing or simple misunderstanding, but investors in Synthetic Biologics Inc. were more focused Monday on the company's disclosure that it voluntarily withdrew its FDA breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) for lead candidate ribaxamase (SYN-004), than for its preliminary accord with the FDA on a proposed design for the planned phase III trial of the agent to prevent Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection (CDI). Read More
SAN DIEGO – Feng Zhang, along with Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, were awarded the Tang Prize in 2016 for their work in the discovery and development of CRISPR/Cas9, but Zhang used most of his time giving the Tang Prize Award Lecture at the Experimental Biology 2018 conference to highlight the diversity of the CRISPR/Cas family and how his lab has exploited the gene editing system. Read More
SUZHOU, China – It is a tradition at the annual ChinaBio Partnering Conference that Greg Scott, event founder and organizer, kicks things off with a slideshow to walk participants – biotech and med-tech entrepreneurs, venture capital investors and big pharma – through an impressive China money story. The numbers can surprise even Scott, who has been bearing witness and contributing to the industry's growth for the last decade. Read More
After hours of trying to get their minds around mismatched study results and data that didn't lend themselves to the questions the FDA was asking, members of the Arthritis Advisory Committee voted 10-5 Monday to recommend approval of a 2-mg dose of Eli Lilly and Co.'s baricitinib, while rejecting a 4-mg dose in a reverse vote of 5-10. Read More
Prothena Corp. plc is quitting development of its most advanced candidate, NEOD-001 for AL amyloidosis, after a phase IIb failure triggered a review of the program's phase III study, leading to its discontinuation for futility. The phase IIb study, Pronto, missed both its primary and secondary endpoints, while an independent data monitoring committee (DMC) recommended discontinuation of the phase III trial, called Vital. Read More
