LONDON – Scientists have succeeded in restoring circulation and cellular functions in pig brains four hours post-mortem, providing the basis on which to develop powerful whole brain models for drug discovery and for studying the effects of ischemia and other injuries. Read More
DUBLIN – Kiadis Pharma NV is adding a natural killer cell (NKC) platform for improving the safety and efficacy of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) to its existing T-cell therapy focused on the same goal by acquiring Cytosen Therapeutics Inc., in a stock-based transaction valued at just €19.4 million (US$21.9 million) initially, but which could be worth up to €77.5 million in total. Read More
As U.S. lawmakers ponder how to keep prescription drug prices from totally collapsing into a black hole from which there's no escape, they're fighting against counter gravitational pulls and trying to remove a lot of debris from the space. Read More
Puretech Health plc entered a research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH to leverage Puretech's lymphatic targeting technology for immune modulation and develop product candidates for an undisclosed number of targets. Puretech receives up to $26 million in the deal and is eligible for more than $200 million in development and sales milestones, in addition to royalties on product sales. Read More
Several infants treated with autologous ex vivo gene therapy for newly diagnosed X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) in a phase I/II trial have developed fully functioning immune systems, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. The results, which were published in the April 17, 2019, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, mark the first time that first-line treatment with X-SCID gene therapy has resulted in an immune system that was able to generate not just T cells, but the major cell types of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Read More
A tissue-engineered knee meniscus, seeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under biomechanical and biochemical stimuli in vitro, has been shown to promote anisotropy and have a functional chondroprotective effect on the knee, a Chinese study reported in the April 10, 2019, issue of Science Translational Medicine. Read More
Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., appointed Nancy Griffith vice president of scientific communications and medical operations and Anne Phillips and Kathrine O'Brien to its board. Read More
Phasebio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Malvern, Pa., said it closed its underwritten public offering of 4.12 million shares that included 537,975 shares from the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares at $12 each. The gross proceeds from the offering were $49.5 million. Read More
Wuxi Biologics Inc., of Shanghai, said its drug substance and drug product manufacturing facilities at Wuxi city successfully completed a seven-day FDA surveillance inspection by three inspectors for the production of Trogarzo (ibalizumab), the first routine GMP inspection since the product's U.S. approval in March 2018. Read More
