Sophiris Bio Inc., of San Diego, closed its previously disclosed public offering of 6.5 million of its common shares and related warrants to purchase 4.87 million of its common shares with an exercise price of $4 per share, offered at a combined price of $4 per share and related warrant, for gross proceeds of $26 million. Read More

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, launched an initiative to increase access to its products in territories and therapeutic areas with the highest unmet need, including emerging health care systems in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Read More

Cempra Inc., of Chapel Hill, N.C., highlighted the publication of an article about Solitaire-IV, its pivotal phase III study of solithromycin for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Read More

Separating delta opioid receptors from the G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2), which normally associates with it in cell membranes, allowed agonists to have an analgesic effect via the delta receptor. Read More

As a further safety measure against the emerging Zika virus outbreak, the FDA issued a revised guidance recommending universal testing of donated whole blood and blood components for Zika virus in the U.S. and its territories. Read More

HONG KONG – A novel small-molecule Wnt inhibitor possessing the potential to eradicate colorectal cancer stem cells (CSCs) may provide a new therapeutic option for patients with drug-refractory colorectal cancer, a team of Japanese researchers reported in the Aug. 26, 2016, edition of Nature Communications. Read More

Some chronic heart failure (HF) patients given an intravenous injection (IV) of specially prepared stem cells during a small phase IIa study saw significant functional and quality of life improvements associated with the treatment, Cardiocell LLC reported during the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Rome. Read More

Pessac, France-based Poietis SAS is developing a platform of laser-assisted 3-D bioprinting for the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries as well as regenerative medicine centers. The French startup is preparing to target the European, North American and Japanese markets with its print-manufactured living tissues. Read More

Biothera Pharmaceuticals Inc. is hardly a traditional biopharma newco. The company’s core beta glucan immunomodulator technology, developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was picked up following the 1999 liquidation of Alpha-Beta Technology Inc., which had sought to advance the platform to treat bacterial infections. Read More

Hemispherx Biopharma Inc. CEO Thomas Equels told BioWorld Today that the approval in the Argentine Republic of rintatolimod for severe myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is “the opening of a door” to the rest of the world, which is waking up to the reality of the disease as research picks up momentum. Read More