4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., said it closed a $90 million series B financing led by Viking Global Investors. The proceeds will be used to advance its therapeutic vector evolution platform and pipeline of next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapeutics. The company's lead intravitreally delivered AAV gene therapy asset for choroideremia is expected to enter clinical trials next year. Read More
Gag clauses that keep U.S. pharmacists from alerting patients when their prescription would be cheaper if they paid out of pocket instead of using their insurance may soon be a thing of the past. Tuesday, the Senate unanimously passed the Know the Lowest Price Act, S. 2553, to ban the use of gag clauses in Medicare Part D plans. Read More
Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG, of Marburg, Germany, inked a co-development agreement with Firebrand Therapeutics Inc., of Princeton, N.J., designed to leverage Secarna's locked nucleic acid, or LNAplus, platform to pursue targets that play important roles in cancer metastasis and Firebrand's expertise in molecular biology, genomics and computational biology approaches. Read More
HONG KONG – South Korea's JW Pharmaceutical Corp. out-licensed its atopic dermatitis candidate, JW-1601, to Danish medical dermatologist Leo Pharma A/S, which has rights to develop and commercialize the drug worldwide, except in South Korea. Read More
DUBLIN – A series of eye-catching papers on parabiosis experiments in mice, which identified a circulating protein that reverses aging-related tissue degeneration, has led to the formation of a new Harvard University spin-out, Elevian Inc., which has just closed a seed round of $5.5 million. Read More
BOSTON – To explain best practice in making cross-border investments, especially those in China, Biopharm America panelists quickly seized upon the metaphor of groping to form a romantic relationship. Read More
Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc. began to assemble its series B round in March, with the goal of advancing its lead program – a small molecule described as a double homeobox protein 4, or DUX4, inhibitor – through IND filing and into the clinic to treat facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The rare genetic neuromuscular disease is characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness due to the death of muscle cells and tissue, leading four of five patients to lose their ability to walk by the time they reach early adulthood. Read More
The first China-discovered and developed treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC), fruquintinib, has won approval from the National Medical Products Administration of China, marking Hutchison China Meditech Ltd.'s (Chi-Med) first approval for an innovative medicine. The drug, a small-molecule inhibitor of VEGF receptors to be marketed as Elunate, is now approved for the treatment of metastatic CRC patients who have failed at least two prior systemic antineoplastic therapies. Read More
LONDON - With uncharacteristic speed, the National Health Service (NHS) has agreed to reimburse treatment with Novartis AG's Kymriah CAR T immunotherapy, little more than a week after the product received formal approval from the European Commission. Read More
It was a mixed bag for Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. at the 2018 Annual Symposium of the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (SSIEM) in Athens, Greece, on Wednesday where the company presented data from its phase I/II Champions trial testing SB-913 in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type II. Read More
