SAN FRANCISCO – In a sign that could bode well for the industry going into 2017, attendees hadn't even begun plodding through crowded halls at the Westin St. Francis Hotel when a flurry of deals hit the news Monday morning. All of them were dwarfed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s $5.2 billion bid for Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – As the perennial opener of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Celgene Corp.'s early morning presentation generally sets the stage for the annual meeting – and maybe even for the year. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Coming off a wobbly 2016 – a year when biopharma dealmaking could be viewed as a glass half empty or half full – the direction of the industry this year could hinge on several macro factors, including drug pricing and the ability to improve R&D productivity beyond business development. Read More
In a potential $1 billion-plus deal that Cowen and Co. analyst Eric Schmidt described as "a necessary and favorable solution" for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s financial straits, the company is selling its approved pancreatic cancer drug Onivyde and its generic version of Doxil candidate to Ipsen SA. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Moderna Therapeutics Inc. CEO Stéphane Bancel opened the 35th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday by unblinding indications and targets for a raft of before-now veiled candidates in the mRNA specialist's pipeline, five of which are now in the clinic, including its Astrazeneca plc-partnered cardiometabolic candidate, AZD-8601. Read More
DUBLIN – Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH is getting $30 million up front and could earn more than $1 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones from an immuno-oncology alliance with Amgen Inc. focused on developing two bispecific T-cells engager molecules that target intracellular tumor-associated peptide (Tumap) antigens. Read More
DUBLIN – Ireland is entering the genomics era in earnest, on the back of a 15-year alliance between Genomics Medicine Ireland (GMI) Ltd., Abbvie Inc., and Wuxi Nextcode, under which GMI plans to sequence 45,000 genomes in order to uncover new therapeutic targets and pathways relevant to oncology, neuroscience and immunology. Read More
LONDON – Macrophage Pharma Ltd. has raised £9 million (US$10.9 million) in a series A to commercialize a small-molecule immuno-oncology technology originally developed by chromatin biology specialist, Chroma Therapeutics Ltd. Read More
HONG KONG – As part of a unique financing and potential acquisition deal, Pvp Biologics, of San Diego, will work with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, to fund and speed up the development of a new enzyme that can minimize the negative impact of gluten on celiac disease patients. Read More
Along with its rule on when products made or derived from tobacco will be regulated as drugs, devices or combination products, the U.S. FDA finalized amendments to its regulations about "intended uses." Read More
Ascentage Pharma Group, of Taizhou, Zhejiang, has raised ¥500 million (US$72 million) from Future Industry Investment Fund, a private equity fund managed by China's State Development & Investment Corporation Fund Management Corp. Ltd. Read More
Bioiberica SA, of Barcelona, reported positive results of the MOSAIC Study (24 MOnth study on Structural changes in knee osteoarthritis Assessed by MRI with Chondroitin sulfate) regarding the use of chondroitin sulfate for knee osteoarthritis. Read More
Pixarbio Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., expanded its non-opiate R&D pain portfolio beyond Neurorelease to include steroid-based injections that can treat acute and chronic pain for up to 90 days. Read More
Acorda Therapeutics Inc., of Ardsley, N.Y., reported the fourth quarter 2016 net sales of Ampyra (dalfampridine) extended-release tablets, 10 mg were $132 million. Full-year net sales amounted to $493 million, an increase of approximately 13 percent over the 2015 net sales. Read More
