Replimmune Group Inc., of Woburn, Mass., completed a $55 million series B financing, with proceeds primarily to be used to generate human proof-of-concept data for its lead product, RP-1, in multiple tumor types. Read More

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it reported new preclinical data from its ongoing intratumoral IMO-2125 development program at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Cancer Immunotherapy conference in Frankfurt, Germany. Read More

Pharmaxis Ltd., of Sydney, and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, said Boehringer is starting the phase IIa ROBIN (Randomized study of Orally administered BI 1467335 in patients with Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy without center-involved diabetic macular edema) trial testing BI-1467335 in 100 patients with moderately severe to severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy without center-involved diabetic macular edema. Read More

Array Biopharma Inc., of Boulder, Colo., reported data from the safety lead-in of the phase III BEACON CRC study evaluating binimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, encorafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, and Erbitux (cetuximab, Eli Lilly and Co.), an anti-EGFR antibody, in patients with BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer (CRC) whose disease has progressed after one or two prior regimens in the metastatic setting. Read More

By considering information both from single cell types and across multiple cell types, scientists have been able to map the relationships of enhancers to gene expression levels in more than 900 different human primary cell types, tissue types and cell lines. Enhancers interact with promoters to regulate gene expression. Read More

LONDON – After a year of testing, Qiagen NV has given Angle plc's Parsortix cancer cell liquid biopsy technology its seal of approval, agreeing to a co-marketing deal in which the two will sell each other's products. Read More

HONG KONG – 3Sbio Inc. inked a proposed asset purchase agreement worth $290 million for the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business of Canada's Therapure Biopharma Inc., a deal that would mark 3Sbio's first foray into the North American biopharmaceutical sector. Read More

Early stage pancreatic cancer is typically asymptomatic, making it difficult to detect before it advances and becomes hard to treat. Johns Hopkins University scientists have developed a novel approach by combining a liquid biopsy based on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) with an analysis of four protein biomarkers to create the basis for a potential biomarker screening tool for the early identification of pancreatic cancer. Read More

Kura Oncology Inc. shares (NASDAQ:KURA) shot 72.3 percent higher to $11.80 Friday on news that its lead candidate, tipifarnib, hit the primary endpoint of a phase II trial in HRAS-mutant relapsed or refractory squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) before the trial had even completed enrolling. Four confirmed partial responses and two patients with stable disease were observed among the first six evaluable patients enrolled, and two patients showed objective responses beyond one year. Kura said it will continue to enroll additional patients. Read More

HONG KONG – Orbimed said it raised around $551 million in its third Asia-focused private equity fund, Orbimed Asia Partners III (OAP3), nearly doubling the $325 million raised for the previous fund in September 2014. Read More

Genomic sequencing specialist Wuxi Nextcode Inc. has received a significant cash infusion to further develop what it is calling the "gold standard" for a genomics database. Read More

MADRID, Spain – The rapid approval of immunotherapies that began a decade ago has oncologists and researchers brainstorming ideas for patient benefit, all asking the same question: What's next? Read More

LONDON – An online computer game is beginning to deliver results in a project that is crowdsourcing analyses of live video images of blood flow in Alzheimer's disease model mouse brains, in a bid to discover new drug targets. Read More

Members of the FDA's Medical Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee were nearly universal in their view that the data are not sufficient to tie the use of gadolinium to adverse events in patients with normal renal function, but the panel unanimously backed the agency's proposal to require additional postmarket studies of those contrast agents, which the FDA explicitly said could result in the withdrawal of a contrast agent's approval. Read More