Anokion SA, a Swiss biotech focused on autoimmune disease, is bringing in-house a startup it spun out for a development alliance with Astellas Pharma Inc. The acquisition of Kanyos Bio Inc., announced alongside news it closed a $40 million series B financing, puts front and center KAN-101, a preclinical celiac disease drug poised for an IND filing by year-end. Together with Anokion's lead candidate, ANK-780, an antigen-specific treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), the company anticipates having two programs in clinical development within the next 12 months. Read More
DUBLIN – Inotrem SA raised €39 million (US$42.9 million) in a series B round to finance a phase IIb trial of its first-in-class septic shock drug candidate, nangibotide, along with a candidate biomarker that may enable it to select patients most likely to benefit from the therapy. Read More
BOSTON – For investors, immuno-oncology (I-O) is still proving "very hard" to buy into, said Christiana Bardon, portfolio manager at Burrage Capital, during a panel session at Biopharm America. "Honestly it was hard from the get-go. If you think about the original ipilimumab data that came from [Medarex Inc.], it was not obvious that [the drug] worked, right? It was like a head fake, actually. Now we're anxiously looking for the next-gen, but the truth is we've been utterly unsuccessful." Read More
Ten targeted cancer drugs currently being tested in clinical trials involving 1,000 patients do not reach the targets at which they are aimed, according to research published this week. Read More
Francis Collins, director of the U.S. NIH, said in a public forum that the agency is "really bullish" about precision medicine. However, while precision medicine requires mounds of data, which soon may be available, Collins said the NIH All of Us research program has drawn the interest of more than 300,000 willing participants to date, adding that the target enrollment of 1 million should be accomplished before the end of 2022. Read More
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Latin America is rife with opportunities to undertake clinical trials, but regulatory adjustments are needed for companies to fully take advantage of them. As the largest market in the region, Brazil, for one, is in dire need of those adjustments, said experts gathered in Sao Paolo last week for the annual BIO Latin America conference. Read More
Aimmune Therapeutics Inc.'s Palforzia, formerly known as AR-101, is on track to be the first peanut allergy treatment to come to what could be a blockbuster market. Read More
Vaxil Bio Ltd., of Ness-Ziona, Israel, said it intends to complete a nonbrokered private placement of up to 25 million common shares at CA4 cents per share for gross proceeds of up to CA$750,000 (US$568,372), which are intended to be used to advance clinical programs, including formulation, in vitro screening and efficacy testing. Read More
Immunic Inc., of San Diego, presented preclinical data at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis meeting in Stockholm, summarizing the profile of its lead oral compound, IMU-838, as compared to dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitor teriflunomide, including its selectivity for DHODH. Read More
HONG KONG & BEIJING – Chinese biosimilar maker Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. is ready to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on its second try. The firm plans to issue 64.7 million shares globally under the stock code 2696. The maximum offer price is HK$57.8 per share, which means the biosimilar maker could raise as much as HK$3.74 billion (US$477 million). Read More
