strategic alternatives. Shares plummeted 34 percent… And Boston-based Juniper Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JNP]]) is discontinuing development of COL-1077, a lidocane pain gel meant for women getting endometrial biopsies, after it failed a mid-stage study. Shares sank 15 percent.
—The Phase 2 trial of a cellular immunotherapy from Seattle’s Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JUNO]]) is back on track, but the firm is the target of a class action lawsuit that stems from patient deaths that caused the FDA to put the study on temporary hold in July.
—Also in Phase 2, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AUPH]]) of Victoria, BC, said its lupus nephritis drug voclosporin hit its primary goal, driving more patients into remission than the standard of care. But investors hammered Aurinia shares because 13 patients died in the trial. The company said the deaths mainly occurred in Asia, and that the doctor running the trial reported them as unrelated to the treatment.
—A few weeks after Pfizer bought Bind Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIND]]) out of bankruptcy with plans to shut the Cambridge company down, Bind CEO Andrew Hirsch was named chief financial officer of Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AGIO]]).
—Xconomy announced our latest biotech event, “Boston’s Life Science Disruptors,” which will take place at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT on Oct. 20. You can get your tickets here.
—Got Cash? Cancer immunotherapy developer Tioma Therapeutics, spun out of Washington University in St. Louis, reeled in $86 million from local venture firm RiverVest and a trio of corporate funders…. Avelas Biosciences of San Diego notched $20 million to push its fluorescent agent that helps surgeons differentiate cancerous from healthy tissue… Regenerative medicine firm Histogen of San Diego raised $6 million to pursue hair regrowth.
—Ben Fidler contributed to this report.
—Photo “Block” by J Aaron Farr via a Creative Commons license.
