DUBLIN – Sofinnova Partners has raised €275 million (US$339 million) for a new health care crossover fund, Sofinnova Crossover I, which will fund late-stage biotechnology and medical device firms that have proof-of-concept data in hand and have an eye on a Nasdaq listing within 12 to 18 months. Read More
Sensitive investors put a dent in shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. after finding out about phase II data with fostamatinib in IgA nephropathy (IgAN), but others kept the faith as the PDUFA date nears for the same compound in chronic or persistent immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Read More
HONG KONG – China's leading contract research organization (CRO), Wuxi Apptec Co. Ltd., is set to debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange via a $910 million IPO for its core small-molecule CRO business. Read More
Aided by regulators' buy-in on an interim endpoint that may hold the key to accelerated approvals in the U.S. and Europe, Retrophin Inc. is kicking off a pivotal phase III test of sparsentan, a potential treatment for the rare kidney disorder focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). With the first patient enrolled, the company will pay licensor Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. a $4.6 million milestone. Read More
LONDON – Oxford Biodynamics plc claims its epigenetic biomarker technology has cracked the problem of singling out the half of newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who will not respond to methotrexate, potentially ending one of the major challenges in managing the disease and opening the way for patient stratification in clinical trials. Read More
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized Medicare Part D rules intended to reduce the out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries participating in the prescription drug program while increasing competition. Read More
Poseida Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, raised $30.5 million in an oversubscribed series B round. The financing was led by Longitude Capital with new investments from Vivo Capital and the Tavistock Group and participation from existing investor Malin Corp. plc. Read More
H3 Biomedicine Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said findings published in Cell Reports demonstrate that splicing factor mutations, which lead to RNA splicing dysregulation, are highly prevalent in many hematologic and solid tumor cancers, suggestive of their role as a hallmark of tumor formation and growth and opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Read More
Call it the 150-day wonder. The formation of Allogene Therapeutics, which took off with a $300 million series A financing and a portfolio of assets from Pfizer Inc. related to allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, began with a conversation at a dinner on Nov. 3, 2017, celebrating the close of another big deal: the acquisition of autologous CAR T therapy player Kite Pharma Inc. by Gilead Sciences Inc. Read More
