Diwali, the Festival of Light, marks different events depending on where it is celebrated. In some areas of India, it marks the return of Lord Rama to his birthplace of Ayodhya after defeating the demon Ravana. For Vivek Subbiah, associate professor at the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the story of how Rama defeated Ravana has parallels in drug discovery. Ravana had 10 heads, and when one was cut off, it grew back. Rama defeated Ravana by means of a magic arrow that entered through the demon’s navel. Read More
With its acquisition of Subintro Ltd., Rigimmune Inc. put a building block in place to further its development of stem-loop RNA therapeutics that selectively activate the innate immune sensor RIG-I. Subintro specializes in development and delivery of antiviral therapeutics for respiratory diseases caused by RNA viruses, including influenza, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2. Subintro’s technology allows the company to consider topical and nasal delivery. Read More
Word from Talaris Therapeutics Inc. of a patient death in its phase III study called Freedom-1 with allogeneic cell therapy FCR-001 renewed speculation about the company’s odds in living donor kidney transplant patients, where Medeor Therapeutics Inc. also is advancing a late-stage candidate. Read More
Cresilon Inc. raised $25 million in a series A-4 financing round led by Paulson Investment Co. The funds will be used to commercialize its plant-based hemostatic gel for human applications and bring it to global veterinary markets. Known as Vetigel in animal medicine, the product is used by veterinarians to instantly stop bleeding in dental and surgical procedures and emergency situations in the U.S., U.K., Europe and Canada. Read More
Newco Vacv Biotherapeutics Ltd. has raised $3 million in a seed round to complete preclinical development of next-generation oncolytic viruses that are engineered to overcome previous shortcomings of this modality. Read More
A U.S. FDA advisory panel saw a number of problems in the clinical trial for the Avertd test for opioid use disorder (OUD), including the fact that the study failed to enroll a sufficiently ethnically diverse body of subjects. Perhaps more damning was that the advisory panel was uncertain as to whether the 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) evaluated in the test were helpful in sorting out which patients were truly at high risk of OUD, leading to an 11-2 vote that the probable benefits of the test do not outweigh the risks. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: 2seventy, Aquestive, Assertio, BMS, Ignyte, JW, Kissei, Obseva, Obsidian, Peak, Res Nova, Soligenix and Therapeutic Solutions. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Ascletis, Astrazeneca, Beigene, Cellevolve, Cour, Hugel, Ipsen, Janssen, Novaccess, Petros, Seres. Read More
