Early translational work gets the credit for Sage Therapeutics Inc.'s set of late-stage trial readouts due near term, CEO Jeff Jonas told BioWorld. "If you look back at biotech companies in general, I'm not sure I can think of another company that's had such a wealth of potential inflection points clustered together within six months, and having achieved that in such a short period of time," he said. Read More

Enrollment in the phase IIb COBALT-1 trial of gemcabene (CI-1027) was small, due to the orphan population of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), but meaningful, according to Lee Golden, chief medical officer of Gemphire Therapeutics Inc., who cited comparisons with phase II proof-of-concept studies for approved HoFH drugs Repatha (evolocumab, Amgen Inc.), Juxtapid (lomitapide, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc.) and Kynamro (mipomersen, Kastle Therapeutics LLC). Read More

HONG KONG – Sinovac Biotech Ltd., China's leading vaccine maker, is in the midst of a go-private transaction that has morphed into a heated bidding war. Read More

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Artificial intelligence is already changing health care, but the revolution is only just beginning, and within the coming decade it will have completely transformed the biotech industry as we know it. Read More

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), of Albany, N.Y., disclosed the early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, in connection with the proposed acquisition of AMRI by affiliates of The Carlyle Group in Washington and GTCR LLC in Chicago. Read More

Kuros Biosciences AG, of Zurich, Switzerland, said it sold 1.15 million new shares (excluding an overallotment option of up to 200,000 shares) to existing and new investors at a price of CHF12.50 (US$13.08) per share. In total, the company raised gross proceeds of CHF14.4 million (US$15 million) that will support the market launch of lead products Magnetos, a synthetic bone graft substitute, and Neuroseal, a dural sealant, as well as certain important activities for ongoing fibrin-PTH development programs. Read More

Aerpio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cincinnati, said the first patient was dosed in its 150-patient TIME-2b phase IIb trial testing AKB-9778 in patients with moderate to severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Patients in the trial will receive AKB-9778 15 mg subcutaneously once daily, AKB-9778 15 mg twice daily, or placebo for 12 months. The primary endpoint is the percentage of patients who improve by at least two steps in Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Score. AKB-9778 is an inhibitor of the intracellular domain of VE-PTP. (See BioWorld Today, March 17, 2017.) Read More