what might happen to Biogen and Elan’s multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease drug natalizumab (Tysabri) in the case of an acquisition of change of control of Biogen; Ryan explained all the ins and outs.
—Ryan profiled the efforts of Acetylon Pharmaceuticals to develop drugs to treat multiple myeloma and rheumatoid arthritis by targeting a class of enzymes called histone deacetylases. The startup, which grew out of research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University, just closed a $7.25 million Series A round of financing from a group of investors including its co-founder and chairman Mark Cohen, who serves on the board of Dana-Farber, and the Kraft Group, the Foxborough, MA, holding company founded by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is also a major supporter of the institute.
—Luke did an in-depth interview with Seattle researcher Bonnie Ramsey, who serves as the executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Therapeutic Development Network. Ramsey spoke in part about how drugs under development at Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) have the potential to fundamentally change how cystic fibrosis is treated, and about the increasingly important role foundations like hers are playing in supporting such research.
—Ryan took a peek at a Waltham, MA, medical devices startup called Connective Orthopaedics that is out to develop products that help torn knee ligaments heal themselves. Boston Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck joined the stealthy startup’s its board of directors in June.
—Luke chatted with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore about the different options he’s considering for advancing his company’s lead program, an RNAi-based treatment for respiratory syncytial virus infections. The discussion offers a nice example of the types of decisions that get made in the course of cutting-edge drug development.
