Xoma Corp. highlighted its early stage pipeline Wednesday as its lead product candidate gevokizumab added another clinical failure to the record, which already included midstage busts in erosive osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes. Read More
Eiger Biopharmaceuticals Inc., a start-up seeking to develop a cure for chronic hepatitis delta virus (HDV), is on the verge of closing a series B financing that will help it advance its lead candidate, lonafarnib, while also broadening its portfolio to include multiple phase II, orphan-designated programs. Read More
Rana Therapeutics Inc., a young firm quietly building up RNA platform technology, padded its coffers with a $55 million series B round to advance its lead programs toward the clinic and expand its in-house capabilities. Read More
Patients, investors and analysts seeking irrefutable evidence of progress in curing or mitigating the effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were likely disappointed when a flurry of trial results and data analyses presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Washington suggested steps forward, but still no breakthroughs on the horizon. Read More
Editor's note: With this week's EU approval of Repatha and the upcoming FDA decision on Praluent, BioWorld is looking back on the discovery of the PCSK9 gene that both drugs target. Read More
LONDON – Kalvista Pharmaceutical has raised $33 million in a series B round, providing the means to diversify its plasma kallikrein inhibitors into the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) while advancing its diabetic macular edema (DME) program to clinical proof of concept. Read More
The Senate Finance Committee voted 23-3 Tuesday to advance a bill that would extend the R&D tax credit for another two years. The credit, used by many drug- and device-makers, expired Jan. 1, along with several other tax incentives. Read More
Fibrocell Science Inc., of Exton, Pa., said it has begun an underwritten public offering and intends to use the net proceeds of the proposed offering for the continued clinical and preclinical development of its product candidates and for other general corporate purposes. Read More
Cardiome Pharma Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said it submitted a supplemental new drug submission to Health Canada's Therapeutic Products Directorate for Aggrastat (tirofiban hydrochloride). Read More
Astrazeneca plc, of London, said the phase III SUMIT study of selumetinib in combination with dacarbazine to treat patients with metastatic uveal melanoma missed its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Read More
