Kite Pharma Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., reported the results of a small National Cancer Institute (NCI) dose-escalation study that tested a T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy of the same type it is testing in a recently-started phase Ia/b trial called KITE-718. Read More

Roka Bioscience Inc., of Warren, N.J., said it entered an agreement with Rokabio Inc., a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary of Institute for Environmental Health Inc., of Lake Forest Park, Wash., for the sale of substantially all of Roka's assets in an all-cash transaction for $17.5 million. Read More

Altimmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said it entered a definitive securities purchase agreement with new and existing investors to sell an aggregate of 15,656 shares of series B convertible preferred stock and warrants for gross proceeds of approximately $14.7 million. Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is once again considering a delay in the implementation date for a final rule on 340B prescription drug ceiling price provisions and the $5,000 civil monetary penalties for manufacturers that overcharge safety net health care providers for covered outpatient drugs. Read More

Researchers have identified a chemical class, the hexahydroquinolines (HHQs), that were effective both at killing the malaria parasite both in the stage when it causes illness, and the stage when it is transmissible from humans to mosquitoes. Read More

One criticism of genetic approaches to cancer treatment has been that they don't actually improve care for most patients. But as the number of targeted drugs has expanded exponentially as part of the ongoing cancer immunotherapy push and genetic research has advanced, that may no longer be the case. Read More

The cannabinoid story is hardly new to biopharma. The first cannabinoid therapeutics were approved roughly two decades ago, but only four drugs targeting the brain's cannabinoid receptors have made it to market, targeting narrow indications associated with cancer, neuropathic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) or cachexia. Read More

Pfizer Inc., of New York, said the FDA approved CD22-directed antibody-drug conjugate Besponsa (inotuzumab ozogamicin) for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Read More

Fibrogen Inc.'s $326 million offering on the heels of Street-pleasing phase II data with pamrevlumab (previously FG-3019) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) turned investor eyes to other prospects for the indication, prompting comparisons between them – such as they could be made – and attempts to stack pipeline candidates against two marketed products. Read More

LONDON – Destiny Pharma Ltd. is to go public on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London next month, raising around £10 million to fund a phase IIb trial of its first-in-class antibiotic XF-73, in the prevention of post-surgical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Read More