Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Amit Munshi said the $800 million up-front, worldwide licensing deal with United Therapeutics Corp. centered on prostacyclin (IP) receptor agonist ralinepag in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) "allows us a broader push in the GI [gastrointestinal] space" with S1P receptor modulator etrasimod, which has reached the planning stage for phase III trials in ulcerative colitis (UC). Read More
Ramping up its long-running interest in epigenetics, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (BI) has turned to Epizyme Inc. to help it inhibit undisclosed targets in two families of enzymes linked to the development of lung and other solid tumor cancers, helicase and histone acetyltransferase (HAT). The collaboration includes $20 million in near-term payouts for Epizyme plus up to $280.5 million in potential milestone payments and royalties. The targets are compelling not only because of "the clear role they play in cancer" but because both have patient stratification biomarkers, Boehringer said. Epizyme shares (NASDAQ:EPZM) rose 25 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $7.51 on Thursday. Read More
DUBLIN – Camel-IDS NV closed a €37 million ($41.8 million) series A funding round to take forward a pipeline of single-domain antibodies linked to a radionuclide, including a lead molecule in development for treating brain metastases in HER2+ breast cancer patients. Read More
In the run-up to its scheduled R&D presentation on Monday, Uniqure NV produced what H.C. Wainwright's Debjit Chattopadhyay dubbed "a compelling glimpse" of the future of hemophilia B treatment, positioning AMT-061 "to be not only the best-in-class one-and-done solution, but also, the first to market." Read More
Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) gained U.S. FDA clearance for its BD Phoenix CPO detect test. It is used to identify infections caused by carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs). Typically, these are antimicrobial resistant infections that result in very high mortality rates. The test will be included on BD Phoenix gram-negative panels that offer antibiotic susceptibility testing to identify the best treatment for a specific infection. Read More
Fina Biosolutions LLC, of Rockville, Md., will receive funding and technical support from Path for the clinical manufacture of Fina's Ecocrm (CRM-197), a genetically detoxified diphtheria toxin used in vaccines for pneumococcal and meningococcal diseases. Path will receive non-exclusive rights to Ecocrm for infectious disease vaccines sold to, or for supply to, low-income countries. Read More
