LONDON – Biontech AG snared its second megadeal in six months, signing up Sanofi SA in a $1.5 billion-plus research and collaboration agreement focused on applying synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding tumor antigens in cancer immunotherapy. Read More
Therapies leveraging the unique ties between cancer and the human microbiome could soon gain a significantly stronger footing through the work of a Flagship Ventures-funded start-up emerging from the firm's idea-to-market accelerator, Venturelabs. Read More
SHANGHAI – Tianjin Cansino Inc., the company behind China's phase II Ebola vaccine, has received a $30 million investment from well-respected health care venture firms Qiming Venture Partners and Lilly Asia Ventures. Read More
Researchers gained unexpected new insights into the how the blood-brain barrier regulates its permeability, when knocking out the TAM family of receptor tyrosine kinases made animals more vulnerable to viral infections rather than protecting them. Read More
MUNICH – Some of those involved in making 2015 a standout year for licensing agreements and for M&A took to the stage at BIO-Europe Tuesday to offer their perspectives on the dealmaking environment they currently inhabit. Read More
NEW DELHI – Indian biopharmaceutical companies are stepping up their forays into the biosimilars arena, with two firms announcing plans to expand their activities in the space over the past couple of weeks. Read More
HONG KONG – Sichuan-based Revotek Co., a Chinese company claiming to be the first in the world able to produce blood vessels using 3-D bioprinting technology, said it is now planning to combine the technology with a cloud-computing platform. Read More
The U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency released guidance this week to educate physicians and the public about biosimilars. The 16-page document – "What is a biosimilar medicine?" – explains biosimilars, the way they should be prescribed and the role they can play in health care. Read More
Nephrogenex Inc., of Raleigh, N.C., said it entered an agreement to sell securities to health care-dedicated and institutional investors in a private placement for gross proceeds of about $5.5 million. Read More
The Medicines Co., of Parsippany, N.J., posted worldwide net revenue of $72.7 million for the third quarter. Sales of Angiomax/Angiox (bivalirudin) reached $47 million, down from the $151 million in sales recorded for the same quarter in 2014, largely driven by the loss of exclusivity. Read More
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, said it entered a collaboration with the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins as part of the firm's Immuno-Oncology Rare Population Malignancy (I-O RPM) program in the U.S. Read More
Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Copenhagen, said results from a National Cancer Institute-sponsored phase I study investigating its cancer vaccine, MVA-BN Brachyury, demonstrated for the first time that an MVA-BN-based vaccine targeting brachyury — a tumor-associated antigen overexpressed in every major solid tumor setting — can induce brachyury-specific T-cell immune responses in advanced cancer patients. Read More
