Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., of Bethesda, Md., received an additional $1 million in funding through a note and loan agreement from its CEO Linda Powers, bringing the year-to-date total to $5.4 million. Read More
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit waded into the CRISPR/Cas9 patent fray Monday as it heard argument in the University of California's appeal of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling last year that the Broad Institute's development of the gene editing tool for use in eukaryotic cells did not interfere with the university's patent. Read More
Daré Bioscience Inc., of San Diego, received the first $224,665 of an anticipated $1.9 million in grant funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a division of the NIH, to help fund the development of Ovaprene, a non-hormonal intravaginal ring being studied for pregnancy prevention. Read More
BOGOTA, Colombia – Regulatory environments for the registration of generics and biosimilars have improved in the last few years, but a lack of consistency among countries has created challenges for drugmakers. Read More
Although exact terms were not disclosed, 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc. (4DMT) CEO David Kirn told BioWorld that Roche Holding AG has "significantly increased" its funding commitment, broadening the research from "a small handful of rare retinal disease indications" in 2016 to take in ophthalmology bids that include large-market prospects as well. Read More
Attenua Inc., which as a virtual biotech gained oral neuronal nicotinic receptor (NNR) assets in development by Targacept Inc. prior to its 2015 merger with Catalyst Biosciences Inc., added some running room with a $35 million series A. The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm, which is advancing therapies to treat chronic cough, attracted an investor syndicate led by Omega Funds with participation from Abingworth, Orbimed and Redmile Group LLC. Read More
San Diego-based synthetic biology player Synthorx Inc. has landed $63 million in series C financing to back further advancement of a series of improved cytokine therapies, led by Synthorin IL-2, an interleukin-2 tuned specifically for activity on certain immune cells. Following a pre-investigational new drug (IND) meeting with the FDA, the company expects to file an IND in the first half of 2019, Laura Shawver, the company's president and CEO, told BioWorld. Read More
LONDON – Crescendo Biologics Ltd. has raised $70 million in Europe's largest series B of 2018 to date, enabling the company to advance its lead Humabody bispecific antibody construct into phase I and through to proof of concept in prostate cancer. Read More
As if anticipating congressional worries about other countries "free riding" on drug and medical device innovation, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) took pains to highlight trade practices that harm the U.S. biopharmaceutical and med-tech sectors in this year's Special 301 Report. Read More
