Umoja Biopharma Inc. has raised $210 million in a series B financing that will help it advance a pipeline of in vivo engineered CAR T-cell immunotherapies to the clinic, as well as build its internal manufacturing capabilities, it said. The Seattle-based company is focused on the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Cormorant Asset Management led the financing, the third largest series B round this year, according to BioWorld data. It follows a $53 million series A round the company announced in November 2020. Read More
Biogen Inc. has announced contrasting results from phase III trials of therapies for a rare eye disease and depression, following last week’s controversial FDA approval of Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm said a phase III gene therapy study in the rare retinal disease choroideremia missed its primary and secondary endpoints, although the news was better from a potential therapy for major depressive disorder. Read More
There’s been a mixed bag of data from Astrazeneca plc’s efforts against COVID-19, after data suggested Pfizer Inc.’s rival vaccine is more effective against the Delta variant and the failure of a trial involving its long-acting antibody therapy. Read More
LONDON – Alentis Therapeutics SA is now equipped to deliver initial proof of concept for its universal approach to treating fibrosis, after raising $67 million in an oversubscribed series B. Read More
LONDON – The pioneers of gene therapy in Europe now aim to take the field to the next level, moving into the development of virally delivered antibodies in the treatment of central nervous system and muscular diseases, with Alzheimer’s disease one of the first targets. Read More
Lev Becker spent about six years studying how to release neutrophile elastase from human neutrophils so it could select cancer cell types that need killing and ignore non-cancer cells. That research eventually led to a recent publication in Cell and the launch of Onchilles Pharma Inc. Read More
Noticeably lacking in the G7 communique following its recent U.K. summit is support for a proposed World Trade Organization waiver on intellectual property related to drugs and other medical products used to prevent, contain or treat COVID-19 infections. Read More
After delaying it twice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing to rescind a Trump-era rule that would have given certain low-income patients insulin and injectable epinephrine products at the steeply discounted 340B rate. Read More
Health Canada is proposing amendments to the Food and Drugs Act that would provide greater oversight of the manufacture of drugs for export. Currently, facilities that manufacture or prepare drugs in Canada for use outside the country are not required to obtain a drug establishment license or to follow Canadian requirements for good manufacturing practices, and they are exempt from fees. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Arctic, Bausch, Biogen, Capsida, Caris, Corcept, CRISPR, Elevation, Eligo, Enzolytics, Eyenovia, Galimedix, Sun. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alx, Amylyx, Ascendis, Avenue, Enochian, GBT, Gesynta, Humanigen, Istari, Jasper, Lipocine, Moderna, Sorrento, Tilt. Read More
