DUBLIN – Shares in Polyphor AG dropped as much as 21% Wednesday as the company shut down two phase III trials of its lead drug candidate, murepavadin, a first-in-class intravenous antibiotic in development for hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP). Read More
Astellas Pharma Inc. and Frequency Therapeutics Inc. have agreed to develop and commercialize Frequency's regenerative therapeutic candidate, FX-322, to treat sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Read More
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a machine learning program that could score the risk of pancreatic cysts and recommend one of three treatment strategies – surgery, watchful waiting or discharge without follow-up – more accurately than current methods. The program could potentially reduce the number of unnecessary surgeries performed on pancreatic cysts with little to no potential of turning cancerous. Read More
Kalvista Pharmaceuticals Inc. made big news in October 2017 by way of its handsome deal with Merck & Co. Inc. to advance KVD-001, an intravitreal injection candidate to treat diabetic macular edema (DME). Read More
HONG KONG – Biocure Technology Corp., a Canadian biopharmaceutical company focusing on biosimilar products, is advancing a CAR T product through its South Korean subsidiary, Biocurepharm Inc., thanks to a recently closed private placement. Read More
Given improvements that Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG made to its patient access program for Kisqali (ribociclib), the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending the drug, used with fulvestrant chemotherapy, as an option for people with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have had previous endocrine therapy. Read More
Xenetic Biosciences Inc., of Framingham, Mass., priced a public offering of 2.3 million shares and warrants to purchase up to 2.3 million shares. Read More
Cytori Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, is changing its name to Plus Therapeutics Inc. to reflect its new focus on developing innovative drugs. It has reserved a new stock symbol, PSTV, and plans to submit notice of the company name change to Nasdaq. Read More
Seattle Genetics Inc., of Bothell, Wash., reported U.S. and Canadian sales of Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), its antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD30 for lymphoma, totaling $159 million for the second quarter, marking a 30% increase over net sales in the second quarter of 2018 and topping consensus estimates by roughly 7%. Read More
Adverum Biotechnologies Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., appointed Carol Hoang vice president, medical affairs and James Shahbazian vice president, finance. Read More
