Poseida Therapeutics Inc.’s R&D Day in February – where much of its technology was made public for the first time – created “a flood of interest” in deals and officials were “pretty selective,” said CEO Eric Ostertag, whose remarks came as the company nailed down a whopping research collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The arrangement will deploy Poseida’s Piggybac and Cas-CLOVER, as well as biodegradable DNA and RNA nanoparticle delivery technology and other genetic engineering platforms to come up with as many as eight gene therapies. Read More

Dublin – Shares in Combigene AB, a little-known Swedish gene therapy firm, surged upward by 172% Oct. 12 on news of a preclinical licensing deal in epilepsy with Spark Therapeutics, which is potentially worth $328.5 million. Read More

Curevac AG, once a forerunner in COVID-19 vaccine development but later surpassed, said it would terminate its first effort in the field, CVnCoV, withdrawing it from a rolling review at the EMA to focus instead on development of second-generation mRNA vaccine candidates with Glaxosmithkline plc. Read More

Although the need for COVID-19 boosters remains a tense debate among policymakers and scientific experts worldwide, the U.S. FDA is basing its Oct. 14-15 Vaccines and Related Biologics Products Advisory Committee meeting on the premise that vaccine boosters are needed. Read More

Bumetanide, a diuretic pill commonly used for treating fluid retention for those with heart, kidney or liver disease, showed a significantly lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in its users than those not taking it. Read More

Tracon Pharmaceuticals Inc. tapped Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Eucure Biopharma Co. Ltd., for U.S. rights to CTLA4 antibody YH-001, which it plans to use in immunotherapy studies in combination with its PD-L1 inhibitor. Read More

New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry, including: Abeona, Bone, Coave, Coya, Epimab, Excision, First Wave, Galera, IGM, Inceptua, Interna, Mina, Pharmalex, Precigen, Rainbio, Rayzebio, Replicel, Science 37, Sesen, Shoreline, Spero, Syros, Vifor, Vor, Xilio. Read More

Biopharmas raising money in public or private financings, including: Bicycle, Cincor, Cingulate, Evofem, Mink, Rejuvenate, Relay, Sciwind. Read More

Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: 4D, Aligos, Astrazeneca, Bicycle, Diurnal, Idorsia, Galmed, Oxurion, Regenxbio, Reistone, Repertoire, Sarepta. Read More

Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abbvie, Athenex, Brii, Enzyvant, Genentech, Kintor, Merck, Protagonist, Regeneron, Ridgeback, Roche. Read More