Maybe some were less than surprised by the gist of phase III results tallied by La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. in the ATHOS-3 study with LJPC-501 (angiotensin II) in patients with catecholamine-resistant hypotension (CRH) associated with distributive shock, but the data hinted at an even brighter picture and Wall Street rewarded the firm handsomely, sending shares (NASDAQ:LJPC) on a ride that ended Monday at $35.12, up $15.25, or 76.8 percent. Read More

About a year after starting to work, albeit indirectly, with the vaccine platform developed by Affinivax Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc. was sufficiently impressed to come back for seconds. The companies inked a global license arrangement for Affinivax's lead vaccine candidate, targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae, that included $10 million in up-front funding. Read More

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it completed enrollment in its phase II trial testing small-molecule glucagon receptor antagonist LGD-6972 in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Read More

Arsanis Inc., of Waltham, Mass., and Adimab LLC, of Lebanon, N.H., said they entered an agreement where Arsanis has secured the exclusive, worldwide license to antibodies targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that were discovered by Adimab. Read More

LONDON – The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its first-ever priority list of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, as a call to arms for the industry to respond to the most urgent public health needs. Read More

Arrakis Therapeutics Inc., a company seeking to develop a pipeline of RNA-targeted small molecules for neurology, oncology and rare genetic disorders, has completed a $38 million series A financing. The funds are expected to help it establish its RNA-focused drug discovery platform this year and then bring its most advanced program close to being ready for studies to back its first investigational new drug application. Read More

As the industry recognizes Rare Disease Day Tuesday, there's plenty to celebrate. The acquisition of Baxalta Inc. by Shire plc early in 2016 created a global giant with an equally large appetite for therapies to treat rare indications. Read More

DUBLIN – Pharma Two B Ltd., a privately held specialty pharma firm, closed its third round of funding at $30 million in order to complete clinical development and registration of its lead program, P2B001, a combination therapy for Parkinson's disease, and to add additional products to its portfolio. Read More

Although the American Hospital Association (AHA) is joining the biopharma pile-on over surging drug prices, some of its proposals to contain prices for Medicare Part B drugs line up with those touted by the drug industry itself. Read More

Midatech Pharma plc, of Oxford, U.K., entered a senior secured £6 million (US$7.5 million) loan agreement with Silicon Valley Bank. Under terms of the loan, Midatech will receive an initial tranche of £2 million, which is available on signing and is expected to be received by the company within the next 10 working days. Two further conditional tranches of £2 million each will become available on achievement of certain clinical development milestones. The loans received under the facility will be repayable by June 2020. Read More

As part of a new executive order handed down Friday, the FDA and other U.S. agencies must form a Regulatory Review Task Force to eliminate red tape. Under the order, each agency task force will have to evaluate existing regulations and identify ones that should be repealed or modified. Read More