Argenx NV, of Breda, the Netherlands, said it started a phase II proof-of-concept trial testing ARGX-113 in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients. The open-label, noncontrolled trial will enroll up to 12 patients with mild to moderate PV who are either newly diagnosed or relapsing. Read More

Txcell SA, of Valbonne, France, presented preclinical data at the Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation meeting in Barcelona, Spain, describing results with its second-generation CAR-Tregs (HLA-A2 CAR-Tregs) in a graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD) model. Read More

Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., has closed its public offering of about 8.8 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $6.50 per share, raising gross proceeds of about $57.5 million. Read More

Weight loss is easy: eat fewer calories than you expend, and the body will compensate for the resulting energy deficit by burning fat. Unfortunately, weight loss is easy in the same way that Mark Twain described quitting smoking as easy – "I've done it a thousand times." Read More

BOSTON – Although a panel of venture capital (VC) investors set up to mull "the next big thing" on their wish lists appeared shy about answering the question, the talk turned up some important insights for attendees of BioPharm America on the event's first day. Read More

Yet to find a partner ready to commit to carrying its herpes immunotherapy, GEN-003, through phase III, Cambridge, Mass.-based Genocea Biosciences Inc. is putting the program on hold as it refocuses its energies on a neoantigen cancer vaccine for which it expects to file an investigational new drug application by early 2018. Read More

DUBLIN – Autolus Ltd. closed an $80 million series C round, the largest private equity deal in European biotech this year, to progress its clinical pipeline of autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies in hematological malignancies. The London-based immuno-oncology firm also plans to allocate some of the cash to its preclinical pipeline of therapies that address solid tumor indications. Read More

Preparing for the worst in the wake of Maria's lashing of Puerto Rico, the FDA is creating a hurricane shortages task force to identify potential short- and long-term issues and creative solutions for the island's drug and device manufacturing sector, which is a major supplier for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Read More

Despite big boasts about the novelty of its 5-hydroxytryptamine6 (5-HT6) pathway approach to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), Axovant Sciences Ltd. found its phase III effort just as wanting as those of every other biopharma that's sought in recent years to tame the deadly neurodegenerative disease. Read More