Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (BI) has started a phase IIa trial in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) seeking insight on four different doses of BI-1467335, an anti-inflammatory drug it acquired from Sydney-based Pharmaxis Ltd. The kick-off triggered an €18 million (US$21.3 million) milestone payment for Pharmaxis. A €10 million (US$11.8 million) milestone tied to the launch of another phase II study in a second soon-to-be disclosed indication is expected later this year. Read More

Shares of Genmab A/S (CPH:GEN) shot up 11 percent Thursday after the company reported that the phase III ALCYONE study of daratumumab (Darzalex) met the primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (PFS) as front-line treatment for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Read More

Noting the technological and regulatory advances that have been made since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect nearly 25 years ago, the U.S. biopharma and med-tech industries are pushing for a modernized NAFTA that will reflect the provisions in more recent trade agreements and at the same time raise the bar for future agreements. Read More

PERTH, Australia – A new technology spun out of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) could change cancer treatment by building cell-based tumor avatars in the lab to test them against a multitude of drugs. Read More

While biopharma's blue chip companies continue to post strong gains, companies working on bringing new therapeutics to the marketplace have had a tougher time to garner excitement from investors with the BioWorld Drug Developers index recording a 2.1 percent fall in value in July. The downward trajectory has continued into this month and at market close on Aug. 17, the index had fallen a further 4.1 percent. Read More

Humanigen Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., said it signed an agreement for a committed equity financing facility under which it may from time to time, at their sole discretion, sell up to $15 million of its common stock to Aperture Healthcare Ventures Ltd. Read More

Sirona Biochem Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange to extend the exercise date of its warrants that were issued on March 6, 2014, from March 6, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2017. Read More

Enteris Biopharma Inc., of Boonton, N.J., said the first woman has been dosed in its phase IIa trial to evaluate Ovarest, an oral formulation of leuprolide, which binds to the gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor, for the treatment of endometriosis. Read More