Raising $15.6 billion through 276 transactions, the biopharma industry has experienced a respectable first quarter (Q1) in terms of financings, with a 14% jump over last year and higher amounts than the first quarters of many pre-pandemic years. The financings compare with $13.7 billion raised through 253 transactions in 2022’s Q1. Private money remains the strongest source of capital in 2023, with venture capital bringing nearly 45% to the table and private investors in public companies bringing another 20%. Read More
In the string of successes and frustrations generated by their five-year collaboration, Merck & Co. Inc. and Eisai Inc. can now add a few more frustrations. The companies are discontinuing the phase III LEAP-003 study of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) plus Lenvima (lenvatinib) for first-line treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma because it did not improve overall survival (OS) vs. Keytruda as a monotherapy. Also, the phase III LEAP-017 trial evaluating the combination in unresectable and metastatic colorectal cancer did not meet its primary endpoint of OS. Read More
Two years after its formation, Mosaic Therapeutics Ltd. has raised $28 million in a series A to begin commercialization of research carried out by the Translational Cancer Genomics Lab at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, U.K., into the genetic vulnerabilities of multiple tumor types and how that impacts response to therapy. Read More
Hundreds of executives from biopharma companies are signing onto an April 10 letter decrying a U.S. district judge’s decision last week to stay the FDA approval of mifepristone, which is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S. Read More
The editing in human cells and in mice of the survival motor neuron 1 gene (SMN1) restored the levels of SMN protein that the mutation of the SMN2 gene produces in spinal muscular atrophy. Scientists from the Broad Institute in Boston and The Ohio State University reversed the mutation using the base editing technique. Read More
Word recently from Nexcella Inc. of progress in its potentially BLA-enabling phase Ib/IIa study, with the BCMA-targeted, autologous CAR T therapy called NXC-201 for relapsed/refractory (r/r) multiple myeloma and r/r amyloid light chain amyloidosis, helped put nearer to center stage the class, which has proven attractive to a handful of developers. Among others in the space are Arcellx Inc. and Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry, including: Anaptysbio, Astrocyte, Biostage, Curemark, Erasca, Huidagene, Nervgen, Onconova, Tscan, Zymeworks. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: ABVC, Aldeyra, Geovax, Astrocyte, Peptilogics, Quralis, Rallybio, Vega. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Aviceda, Evopoint, Evotec, Exevir Bio, JCR Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Nona Biosciences, Omeros, Sensorion, Sumitomo. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Astrazeneca, Brim, CNS, Enanta, Everest, Merck. Read More
