Now that Celgene Corp. has made its $9 billion move to take over Juno Therapeutics Inc., advancing in the ever-hot chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell space, speculation has turned to the ultimate odds of dominance, eventual sales numbers if the CD19-targeting JCAR-017 wins FDA clearance, and how that new deal fits alongside Celgene’s existing anti-B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) pact with Bluebird Bio Inc. Read More

Nanobiotix SA, of Paris, reported intermediate data from a phase I/II trial testing NBTXR-3, hafnium oxide nanoparticles, in liver cancers, including primary hepatocellular cancer and liver metastasis from other tumors, at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco. Of the seven evaluable patients, three achieved a complete response and three were partial responders. Read More

Piper Jaffray analyst Christopher Raymond called Sanofi SA’s takeover of Bioverativ Inc. for $11.6 billion “just what the doctor ordered” and a positive signal for the sector overall. Paris-based Sanofi disclosed early Monday that it will acquire Bioverativ by way of a tender offer expected next month for the Waltham, Mass.-based company’s outstanding shares (NASDAQ:BIVV) at $105 each – a 64 percent premium to Friday’s closing price of $62.75. Read More

Shares of San Diego-based Vical Inc. (NASDAQ:VICL) fell 23 percent, or 43 cents, to $1.44 Monday as longtime partner Astellas Pharma Inc. took the wraps off top-line data showing that ASP-0113, a vaccine designed to prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease and associated complications in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients, failed to meet primary or secondary endpoints of the phase III study. Read More

After three days of a partial shutdown, it looks like it’s back to business as usual for the U.S. government – sort of. Read More

HONG KONG – South Korean authorities are expected to ease restrictions for the country’s biotech industry, especially for regulations surrounding gene therapies and organ donation. Read More

Eureka Therapeutics Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., disclosed the successful completion of a $60 million series D financing round. Read More

Klogene Therapeutics Inc., of Boston, and Boston University School of Medicine said a paper published in the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience showed efficient transcriptional activation of the anti-aging multifunctional gene Klotho by CRISPR/Cas9. Read More