A fully approved COVID-19 vaccine, clinical advances of pandemic antibodies and multibillion-dollar deals appear to be the driving forces of increasing biopharma stock prices. BioWorld’s Biopharmaceutical Index is tracking ahead by 10.6% this year, after several months of negative numbers. Read More
Pharmacyte Biotech Inc. has raised $90 million to move its live cell encapsulation technology for cancer and diabetes further into the clinic. CEO Kenneth Waggoner told BioWorld that the first task is to work through studies and gather other information required by the FDA to get a clinical hold, imposed last November, lifted on trials in pancreatic cancer. Read More
Recently published phase II data with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s TAK-906 (trazpiroben), a dopamine D2/D3 receptor antagonist, fueled hope for patients as Processa Pharmaceuticals Inc. proceeds with a different – and more focused – approach against gastroparesis. Read More
Beyondspring Inc. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. entered a ¥1.3 billion (US$200 million) deal to commercialize and co-develop the former’s selective immunomodulating microtubule-binding agent plinabulin in greater China. Read More
Xalud Therapeutics Inc. raised an oversubscribed $30 million series C financing to continue advancing its lead candidate, XT-150, for regulating interleukin-10 in order to treat pathologic inflammation. The injectable, plasmid DNA gene therapy expresses IL-10v, a modified version of the cytokine IL-10, and is in a phase IIb study for treating moderate to severe pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Read More
In Cell Metabolism, researchers working at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center reported that when fat cells (adipocytes) are chronically stressed, as is characteristic of obesity, they can release small vesicle exosomes that are respiration-competent and essentially portions of mitochondria. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Amneal, Astrazeneca, Edesa, Everest, Hutchmed, Inmune, Ose, Pardes, Ryvu, Servier, Turn. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Acasti, Alpha Healthcare Acquisition, Beigene, Bio-Thera Solutions, Bolt, Grace, Hikma, Humacyte, Immix, Innovent. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: AB Science, Ascendis, Astrazeneca, Biocryst, Biontech, Exelixis, Ironwood, Marinus, Merck, Ono, Pfizer, Scancell, Servier, Sesen, Takeda, Vertex, Zogenix. Read More
