PERTH, Australia – Australian biotech company Patrys Ltd. is developing an antibody that can enter the cell nucleus. If clinical trials go well, it would be a game-changer, because it would mean that intracellular targets could be accessible to antibodies. Read More

Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Chicago, gained FDA orphan status for its ready-to-use, liquid-stable glucagon for the treatment of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HH). HH is associated with several diseases, including post-bariatric hypoglycemia (PBH).  Read More

Miragen Therapeutics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., priced a public offering of 7 million shares at $5.50 apiece for gross proceeds of about $38.5 million. The company granted underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 1.05 million shares.  Read More

Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, said it met its enrollment threshold of 300 women in its LEADERSHIP 301 trial of rosiptor (AQX-1125), its SHIP1 activator, in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and remains on track for top-line data in the third quarter of 2018.  Read More

PERTH, Australia – Allergan plc is acquiring Sydney-based Elastagen Pty Ltd., a private company with a tissue repair platform that complements Allergan's aesthetic and dermatology franchise. Read More

LONDON – Scientists in the U.K. have for the first time grown mature human eggs in vitro from the earliest stage to the point where they are ready for fertilization. Read More

Having chalked up another failure in the casualty-strewn Alzheimer's disease (AD) space, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (BI) is giving up on BI-409306, a phosphodiesterase 9 (PDE9) inhibitor, but not on its mechanism of action, and will keep pursuing work on the same compound in schizophrenia. Read More

Abeona Therapeutics Inc., a company developing gene therapies for the two most common types of Sanfilippo syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis III (MPS III), has reported early progress on both programs. ABO-102 (AAV-SGSH), the more advanced candidate for MPS IIIA, showed time and dose-dependent responses in biomarkers and, following a recent FDA allowance, could soon be used to treat patients earlier in the course of their disease, the company said.  Read More

DUBLIN – Shares in Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 20 percent Friday on news of an immuno-oncology deal with Seattle Genetics Inc., which brings in $30 million up front and potentially up to $1.2 billion more in milestones spread across three programs. Boston-based Pieris would also receive tiered royalties that could reach a low double-digit percentage of product sales. It is also retaining a co-commercialization option covering the U.S. for the alliance's second program. Read More

Despite the fact that metastases are responsible for 90 percent of cancer deaths, what drives and enables metastatic spread remains little understood. One metastatic mechanism is the reversal of cells to a more primitive phenotype, the so-called epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Now, researchers from the French Institute Gustave Roussy have shown that one subtype of colorectal tumor cells retained its epithelial phenotype when such cells metastasize to the peritoneum.  Read More