For biopharma, 2019 can be described as a terrific year – with a few asterisks. The financial markets were flourishing, with venture capital dollars, in particular, flowing to the sector, while dealmaking reached historic proportions. Meanwhile, scientific breakthroughs led the way as cell and gene therapies gained ground, the first signs of success emerged with new technologies like CRISPR and the long-awaited promise of genomics found its way to the front lines of health care. Read More
While the number of venture capital financings are continuing the upward trend begun in 2018, amounts raised are down from last year, aside from series B rounds that have brought in 28% more in funds of $5.49 billion. Read More
LONDON – Following 3.5 years of uncertainty, the U.K. will be leaving the EU at 11 pm on Jan. 31, after the newly elected Conservative government finally got the withdrawal agreement bill voted through parliament on Dec. 20, by a majority of 124. Read More
LONDON – Twenty years on from sequencing of the first draft of the human genome and the associated hype, 2019 was the year that the science of genomics truly began to make an impact in health care. Read More
BEIJING – Chinese scientist He Jiankui has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined ¥3 million (US$429,421) for illegally carrying out the human embryo gene editing that led to the birth of twin girls and another baby with heritable changes to their genomes. Read More
Shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) lost 49.5% of their value, or $7.82, to close at $7.99 as investors learned of top-line data from the ongoing phase Ib/IIa Precision HD2 trial testing WVE-120102 in Huntington’s disease. Read More
The next wave of drug discovery is being enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). This fact has not been lost on investors, who are keeping a close watch on emerging biopharma companies that are using AI and machine learning to enable the discovery of next-generation medicines. Read More
Acceleron Pharma Inc. and Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc., two Cambridge, Mass.-based companies that have benefited from partnerships, agreed to an R&D collaboration and license agreement to identify small molecules for treating an undisclosed target in pulmonary disease. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations. Read More
