We saw some in-depth profiles of New England-area biotechs’ drug development strategies, as well as breaking news on financings and partnership deals.
—While Bay Area biotech startup Gatekeeper Pharmaceuticals, Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Novartis continue their legal wrangling over a potential lung cancer drug, Waltham, MA-based Avila Therapeutics is working on its own treatment for the disease. The biotech is using its covalent drug technology in a partnership with Boulder, CO-based Clovis Oncology to discover treatments for non-small cell lung cancers that are resistant to existing drugs.
—Ryan took a look at how Waltham-based biotech Alkermes navigated the aftermath of a negative regulatory decision. The firm’s operations have stayed the same and it has not made any layoffs, despite its request for approval of a once-weekly version of the diabetes drug exenatide (Bydureon) being shot down by the FDA.
—Cerulean Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of nanoparticle drugs, brought in a $24 million Series C funding round, led by Lilly Ventures, the venture arm of drug giant Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]). The startup will put the funding, which also came from existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Lux Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, and Venrock Associates, toward a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, CRLX101, for patients with lung cancer.
—Verastem, a Boston-based startup out to develop cancer-fighting drugs that target cancer stem cells, kicked off with $16 million in Series A funding. The startup was founded with investments by Longwood Founders Fund, and the Series A round also includes Bessemer Venture Partners, Cardinal Partners, and MPM Capital. Founded by MIT biologists Robert Weinberg and Eric Lander, Verastem has developed a
