Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) turnaround over the past few years started when a drug for a rare disease called transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis showed promise in a small clinical trial: its stock traded at $12 per share a year ago, and sits at about $31 per share today. While the Cambridge, MA-based biotech still has a … Continue reading “Alnylam’s Amyloidosis Drug Holds up in Second Clinical Trial”
Author: Ben Fidler
Ben is former Xconomy Deputy Editor, Biotechnology. He is a seasoned business journalist that comes to Xconomy after a nine-year stint at The Deal, where he covered corporate transactions in industries ranging from biotech to auto parts and gaming. Most recently, Ben was The Deal’s senior healthcare writer, focusing on acquisitions, venture financings, IPOs, partnerships and industry trends in the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics and med tech spaces. Ben wrote features on creative biotech financing models, analyses of middle market and large cap buyouts, spin-offs and restructurings, and enterprise pieces on legal issues such as pay-for-delay agreements and the Affordable Care Act. Before switching to the healthcare beat, Ben was The Deal's senior bankruptcy reporter, covering the restructurings of the Texas Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, GM, Delphi, Trump Entertainment Resorts and Blockbuster, among others. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in English from Binghamton University.
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: J&J, Celgene, Zafgen, & More
[Updated, 1:39 pm ET] Boston, New York, and New Jersey biotechs were bustling with activity this week, and for a change it had nothing to do with IPOs. We’ve got all the partnerships, clinical trial results, and more below: — [Updated with new item] Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) agreed on Friday to pay … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: J&J, Celgene, Zafgen, & More”
J&J Cuts Ribbon on Boston Innovation Center, Touts Startup Deals
Johnson & Johnson has officially set up shop in Kendall Square. Today is the day that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) cuts the ribbon on its Boston Innovation Center, the latest step in a broad initiative by the New Brunswick, NJ-based drug giant to help drive biotech innovation in certain life sciences hotspots around the … Continue reading “J&J Cuts Ribbon on Boston Innovation Center, Touts Startup Deals”
Flexion’s Long-Lasting Steroid Injection Hits Mark in Phase 2 Trial
[Updated 12 pm with correction] Flexion Therapeutics’ transformation into an osteoarthritis specialist continued gaining traction today, as the Burlington, MA-based company moved its most advanced drug within earshot of a late-stage clinical trial. Flexion says a drug it calls FX006, a long-lasting form of the steroid triamcinolone, hit its main goals in a 12-week, mid-stage … Continue reading “Flexion’s Long-Lasting Steroid Injection Hits Mark in Phase 2 Trial”
Zafgen’s Obesity Drug Continues to Cut The Fat in Phase 2 Trial
Zafgen raised eyebrows two years ago when it showed that its injectable drug, which changes the way the body metabolizes fat, helped severely obese people in a small clinical trial lose a lot of weight in the span of a month. Today, the Cambridge, MA-based company is giving a sneak peek into its next study—and, … Continue reading “Zafgen’s Obesity Drug Continues to Cut The Fat in Phase 2 Trial”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: IPO Madness, Amicus, & More
The white-hot biotech sector kept humming along this week— particularly on the East Coast, where companies tripped over one another on their way to the Nasdaq. We’ve got that and a whole lot more below: —Cambridge, MA-based Bluebird Bio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BLUE]]) soared onto the stock market on Wednesday and saw its share price immediately take … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: IPO Madness, Amicus, & More”
PTC Therapeutics IPO Raises $125M Despite Checkered Past
How strong is the appetite for biotech IPOs? PTC Therapeutics, whose lead drug, ataluren, has already failed two big clinical trials, has priced an offering near the high end of its projected range. South Plainfield, NJ-based PTC sold nearly 8.4 million shares this morning at $15 apiece, for a total of about $125 million. PTC … Continue reading “PTC Therapeutics IPO Raises $125M Despite Checkered Past”
Bluebird Prices Ahead of Range, Takes Flight on Nasdaq Today
[Updated: 10:45 am ET] When Third Rock Ventures and Genzyme joined a group of investors in 2010 pooling $35 million into a nearly two-decade old gene therapy company known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, this turnaround was likely what they had in mind. Less than three years after that investment, that Cambridge, MA-based company, now known as … Continue reading “Bluebird Prices Ahead of Range, Takes Flight on Nasdaq Today”
Alkermes Spinout, Civitas, Nabs Second Grant From Fox Foundation
Civitas was spun out of Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) two years ago based on technology that can deliver a precise, high dose of a drug through an inhaler. With a new round of cash from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and some promising data from a small clinical trial in hand, the startup based in Chelsea, … Continue reading “Alkermes Spinout, Civitas, Nabs Second Grant From Fox Foundation”
Amicus Shelves New-Drug Filing For Fabry Disease Drug
[Updated, 1:10 ET] Investors are going to have to wait awhile before they see Amicus Therapeutics submit its Fabry Disease drug to the FDA for approval. And they immediately showed their displeasure by sending the Cranbury, NJ-based company’s stock down more than 20 percent. John Crowley, Amicus’ CEO, said on a conference call Monday that … Continue reading “Amicus Shelves New-Drug Filing For Fabry Disease Drug”
Oh, Baby: OvaScience’s Roadmap to Next-Generation IVF
By the end of next year, Cambridge, MA-based OvaScience will likely begin selling its first product. It’s a system called Augment, designed to boost the success rate of in vitro fertilization. Normally, that would be a milestone that any life sciences company would be thrilled to achieve. But for OvaScience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVAS]]), it’s nowhere near … Continue reading “Oh, Baby: OvaScience’s Roadmap to Next-Generation IVF”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Agios, Ludwig/CRI, Celgene
Two things you were able to count on this week if you live in New York: rain, rain, and more rain, and another Beantown biotech entering the IPO queue. We’ve got that and more in this week’s roundup: —Cambridge, MA-based Agios Pharmaceuticals has become the latest in what’s been a parade of biotechs to file … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Agios, Ludwig/CRI, Celgene”
Immune Design, NY Non-Profits Team Up to Boost Cancer Drugs
Seattle-based Immune Design took a big step forward as a company in 2010 when it struck a deal to let AstraZeneca’s MedImmune unit test out its proprietary vaccine boosters, or adjuvants. Now, it’s got a bigger goal in mind: using a broad collaboration with two big non-profit organizations to break into the hot field of … Continue reading “Immune Design, NY Non-Profits Team Up to Boost Cancer Drugs”
Agios Files For IPO With Plans to Raise $86M
Agios Pharmaceuticals turned heads in 2010 when it reeled in $130 million from Celgene still years away from testing one of its drugs in human beings. Three years later, on the verge of its first clinical trial, Agios hopes to have the same type of impact on public investors. Cambridge, MA-based Agios filed a Form … Continue reading “Agios Files For IPO With Plans to Raise $86M”
AstraZeneca Nabs Redwood City-based Pearl Therapeutics For Up to $1.15B
Pearl Therapeutics’ investors are a happy group today. AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), the British pharmaceutical giant, has agreed to pay $560 million up front for all of Pearl’s stock. Pearl and its investors could ultimately make more than double that amount, however. AstraZeneca could pay Pearl another $450 million should it hit certain milestones tied to … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Nabs Redwood City-based Pearl Therapeutics For Up to $1.15B”
FDA Declines To Approve Aveo’s Drug For Kidney Cancer
As expected, the hammer came down on Aveo Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) today as the FDA denied its application to approve tivozanib as a kidney cancer treatment. The complete response letter issued by the FDA closes the book on a chapter the Cambridge, MA-based biotech surely would like to forget. The FDA, in its letter, called … Continue reading “FDA Declines To Approve Aveo’s Drug For Kidney Cancer”
AbbVie Jumps Into $11.4M Series B For Avaxia Biologics
Avaxia Biologics’s big plan has been to create a line of drugs that go after the same protein, tumor necrosis factor, that AbbVie’s adalimumab (Humira) does—just in a different, more localized way. Clearly, its approach has gotten AbbVie’s (NYSE: [[ticker:ABBV]]) attention. Lexington, MA-based Avaxia announced today that it has closed an $11.4 million Series B … Continue reading “AbbVie Jumps Into $11.4M Series B For Avaxia Biologics”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: ASCO, Follica, Aveo, & More
All eyes may have been on ASCO to start the week, but that wasn’t the only news emanating from biotechs on the East Coast. We’ve got all the details here: —Luke Timmerman, Xconomy’s National Biotech Editor, had the winners, losers, and everything in between in his two-part wrap of this year’s annual meeting of the … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: ASCO, Follica, Aveo, & More”
UMass Amherst Wins $100.5M in Grants From MA Life Sci Initiative
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences initiative has just signed its biggest check to date—and it’s not going to Cambridge. Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center today pledged $100.5 million to two research projects in Western Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative. The University of Massachusetts Amherst won a $95 million … Continue reading “UMass Amherst Wins $100.5M in Grants From MA Life Sci Initiative”
Verastem Switches CEOs as Westphal Steps Into Chairman Role
[Updated, 7:50 pm ET]Christoph Westphal co-founded Verastem in August 2010, invested in it, ran it as chairman and CEO in its early days, and took the company public last year. Now he’s officially stepping back a bit from the day-to-day responsibility of running the show. That’s the message Westphal gave Wednesday as he stepped down … Continue reading “Verastem Switches CEOs as Westphal Steps Into Chairman Role”
Aveo Rests Fate on Remaining Mid-Stage Trials For Cancer Drug
Executives of Cambridge, MA-based Aveo Oncology today further defended their decision to cut the majority of their company’s rank and file, while largely pinning the biotech’s hopes on two key clinical trials that should wrap up by the end of 2014. “This is an incredibly sad day for Aveo,” president and CEO Tuan Ha-Ngoc said … Continue reading “Aveo Rests Fate on Remaining Mid-Stage Trials For Cancer Drug”
Aveo Cuts 140 Jobs As Fallout From FDA Panel Continues
Aveo Oncology’s workforce is now bearing the brunt of the collateral damage from the company’s failure before an FDA advisory panel in May. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech has outlined a sweeping restructuring plan that will involve slashing 140 jobs—roughly 62 percent of its employees. Aveo (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) expects to save about $190 million over the … Continue reading “Aveo Cuts 140 Jobs As Fallout From FDA Panel Continues”
Edge Therapeutics Raises $18M to Better Treat Head Injuries
Edge Therapeutics believes it can combat the delayed, life-threatening effects that can happen days or weeks after aneurysms and severe head injuries by tweaking well-known drugs. With its biggest financial haul to date, the New Providence, NJ-based biotech will get its first chance to test that thesis on a large scale by putting its lead … Continue reading “Edge Therapeutics Raises $18M to Better Treat Head Injuries”
Hair-Raising Follica Study Could Point to Baldness Therapy
[Updated, 11:00 am ET] Few stories have struck a chord with Xconomy’s readership quite like that of Follica, the PureTech Ventures-incubated startup founded in 2006 with plans to combat male and female pattern baldness by using adult stem cells to grow new hair follicles. Unfortunately, details regarding Follica’s science—let alone its clinical progress—have been as … Continue reading “Hair-Raising Follica Study Could Point to Baldness Therapy”
Epizyme Soars 50 Percent in IPO Debut
It didn’t take much time for Epizyme to capture the hearts, minds, and cash of public investors Friday. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPZM]]) saw overwhelming support from investors for its IPO, which priced at $15 per share Thursday night—the high end of the $13 to $15 range it set a week prior. The good … Continue reading “Epizyme Soars 50 Percent in IPO Debut”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Epizyme, Alkermes, Ophthotech, & More
If you’ve been away all week at an extended post-Memorial Day barbecue, have no fear! We’ve got all of your East Coast biotech news wrapped up below: —Waltham, MA and Dublin, Ireland-based Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) unveiled detail results from its mid-stage clinical trial on ALKS 5461, its experimental drug for major depressive disorder. The drug, … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Epizyme, Alkermes, Ophthotech, & More”
Alkermes Unveils Full Mid-Stage Data On Depression Drug
[Updated, 9:45 am ET] Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) has released all the details from a mid-stage clinical trial on a drug that attacks depression in a whole new way, giving the company a shot to add a potentially big moneymaker to its portfolio should the results hold up in a bigger study. The Dublin, Ireland and … Continue reading “Alkermes Unveils Full Mid-Stage Data On Depression Drug”
Epizyme Prices IPO at $15 Per Share, Begins Trading Friday
[Updated: 8:05 pm ET] Epizyme has gotten plenty done in a short period of time: since it set up shop in 2007, it’s locked in three rounds of financing, signed several partnership deals with big drugmakers, and has two drugs either in clinical trials or on the verge of starting them. Now, it will see … Continue reading “Epizyme Prices IPO at $15 Per Share, Begins Trading Friday”
Eleven’s Hybrid Approach Takes Shape With ThromboGenics Pact
Eleven Biotherapeutics wants to churn out a promising pipeline of treatments for eye diseases such as dry eye and allergic conjunctivitis that it can see all the way through to the marketplace. But Tuesday it proved that it can use its method for designing and creating protein drugs to earn some cash through partnerships as … Continue reading “Eleven’s Hybrid Approach Takes Shape With ThromboGenics Pact”
Ophthotech Nabs $175M To Fund Late-Stage Trial For Eye Drug
Ophthotech was founded by former Eyetech Pharmaceuticals executives to change the standard of care for the “wet” form of age-related macular degeneration: the leading cause of blindness among adults in the western world. With a new $175 million round of financing the New York company will get its shot to prove its new drug candidate … Continue reading “Ophthotech Nabs $175M To Fund Late-Stage Trial For Eye Drug”
Astellas Tells Aveo to Go It Alone in Kidney Cancer
If Aveo Oncology has any plans to sell tivozanib as a kidney cancer drug, it’s going to have to do it without Astellas Pharma. The fallout from the disastrous May 2 FDA advisory panel continues as Cambridge, MA-based Aveo (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) revealed in a short filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Astellas has … Continue reading “Astellas Tells Aveo to Go It Alone in Kidney Cancer”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Regeneron, Actavis, NPS, & More
Broad startup initiatives, big acquisitions, critical data readouts, and more characterized the news flowing out of the biotech sector along the East Coast this week. Details below: —Residents of Long Island, NY, were dismayed when Astellas Pharma shut down their local biotech flagship, OSI Pharmaceuticals. But Accelerate LI is trying to turn things around. The … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Regeneron, Actavis, NPS, & More”
Merrimack Aims For Penny-Wise Pipeline of Cancer Drugs
It’s not often that you’ll find a company with six cancer drugs in clinical trials that have their own companion diagnostics, and an in-house drug discovery engine. So why all the skepticism surrounding Merrimack Pharmaceuticals? After going public in March 2012 at $7 a share, Cambridge, MA-based Merrimack (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MACK]]) still has a lot to … Continue reading “Merrimack Aims For Penny-Wise Pipeline of Cancer Drugs”
Ironwood, NPS Pharma Tap Wall Street To Roll Out Lead Drugs
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and NPS Pharmaceuticals have plenty in common: both won FDA approval of their first drugs in 2012, and both are trying to prove to investors that they can successfully sell them. And now, both have sought out Wall Street to help them get it done. Cambridge, MA-based Ironwood and Bedminster, NJ-based NPS both … Continue reading “Ironwood, NPS Pharma Tap Wall Street To Roll Out Lead Drugs”
Regeneron Eyes Potential Blockbuster With Asthma Drug
[Updated: 11:05 pm ET] Regeneron Pharmaceuticals became a breakout biotech star with a new drug for treating age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the U.S. Now the Tarrytown, NY-based biotech believes it’s taken a big step towards creating a potential asthma drug. Regeneron unveiled the full results of a … Continue reading “Regeneron Eyes Potential Blockbuster With Asthma Drug”
Karyopharm Grabs $48.2M Series B to Advance Cancer Drugs
Karyopharm Therapeutics believes it can build a platform of cancer drugs off of the idea of keeping the body’s tumor-suppressing proteins in the nucleus of cells, where they can do their jobs properly. With the help of a new $48.2 million round of funding, now it has enough cash to test that thesis in two … Continue reading “Karyopharm Grabs $48.2M Series B to Advance Cancer Drugs”
Accelerate LI’s Lofty Goal: Create the Next U.S. Innovation Cluster
When Astellas Pharma shuttered the labs of OSI Pharmaceuticals last week, no one felt that loss as acutely as the residents of Long Island, NY. OSI, famed for its lung cancer drug erlotinib (Tarceva), had shown that it was possible to create a large pharmaceutical company on Long Island. Not only was it the anchor … Continue reading “Accelerate LI’s Lofty Goal: Create the Next U.S. Innovation Cluster”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Termeer, Atlas, OSI Pharma & More
All eyes in the biotech world will soon turn to the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago, but for now, the industry keeps humming along. This week’s news was highlighted by partnerships, product launches and big name hirings—and lowlighted by the closure of the long time anchor of Long Island’s biotech scene. … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Termeer, Atlas, OSI Pharma & More”
Third Rock’s Ninepoint Medical Grows Up, Plans $35M Series B
Ninepoint Medical earned the distinction of becoming the first—and to date, the only—medical device maker seeded by startup creation specialist Third Rock Ventures when it set up shop in 2009. Some four years and $33 million later, Ninepoint’s vision, a product that can make cancer diagnosis more efficient, is becoming a reality. “It’s a pretty … Continue reading “Third Rock’s Ninepoint Medical Grows Up, Plans $35M Series B”
Atlas Leans on Amgen, Novartis to Build New Startups
[Corrected on 5/16/13, 9:11 a.m., see below] Fresh off raising $265 million to bankroll its ninth fund, Atlas Venture has forged strategic partnerships with Amgen and Novartis to help supply the bigger companies with innovative new drug candidates. The deals represent the latest in a string of alliances that is bringing venture firms and Big … Continue reading “Atlas Leans on Amgen, Novartis to Build New Startups”
OSI Pharma, Long Island Biotech Bellwether, Shut Down by Astellas
OSI Pharmaceuticals became the home-grown beacon of Long Island, NY’s biotech scene behind the lung cancer drug erlotinib (Tarceva), which was so successful that led Japan’s Astellas Pharma to buy the company outright in a $4 billion deal in May 2010. It took just three years to end the honeymoon, however: Astellas has shuttered OSI’s … Continue reading “OSI Pharma, Long Island Biotech Bellwether, Shut Down by Astellas”
Radius Health CEO: Skin Patch Data is the Value Driver
For Radius Health, it’s all about September. That’s when the Cambridge, MA-based biotech will unveil the mid-stage data on a version of its experimental osteoporosis drug, BAO58, which is administered through a patch affixed to the skin. CEO Michael Wyzga makes no bones about it: the moment is huge for Radius, despite the fact that … Continue reading “Radius Health CEO: Skin Patch Data is the Value Driver”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Dunsire, Good Start, Nimbus, & More
It was a busy week of big promise and big moves for biotechs on the East Coast. One biotech added to a string of partnerships and awaits results from a key mid-stage study for one of its own drugs. Another signed its first deal with Big Pharma. And one well-respected life sciences executive abruptly left. … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Dunsire, Good Start, Nimbus, & More”
Domain Associates, Regado Bet Big on Heart Drug
Biotech stars can rise and fall on the key decision of whether or not to “go it alone” and develop their drugs without the help of Big Pharma—it’s a risk that can either make or break a company. But Regado BioSciences, 12-year-old biotech startup based in Basking Ridge, NJ, and its venture backers, led by … Continue reading “Domain Associates, Regado Bet Big on Heart Drug”
Nimbus Discovery, Shire to Co-Develop Oral Rare Disease Drugs
Nimbus Discovery splashed onto the scene in 2011 with a big-name investor group that included Bill Gates and a plan to discover drugs with the help of computer software. On Tuesday, that idea turned into a potentially big partnership with Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPG]]) to help conquer currently untouchable rare diseases. Neither Shire nor Cambridge, MA-based … Continue reading “Nimbus Discovery, Shire to Co-Develop Oral Rare Disease Drugs”
Will $28M in Debt Financing Push Good Start Genetics to Big Finish?
Six years ago, Good Start Genetics was just an idea in the genetics research labs of Harvard. Today, it is a full-fledged company with more than 85 employees, a diagnostic testing system on the market, and now another $28 million in its pocket to continue growing. Capital Royalty, a Houston, TX-based investment firm that works … Continue reading “Will $28M in Debt Financing Push Good Start Genetics to Big Finish?”
Concert Pharma To Get $300M+ Per Drug in Celgene Pact
The past 15 months have turned into a partnership symphony for Concert Pharmaceuticals. On Monday, the Lexington, MA-based company snagged its latest collaborative partner, revealing that it will team with Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]) to use its technology— which adds deuterium elements into existing drugs to boost their abilities—to develop cancer and inflammation drugs. Concert has … Continue reading “Concert Pharma To Get $300M+ Per Drug in Celgene Pact”
Former Keryx Exec’s Mission: Turn TG Into the Next Pharmacyclics
Seven years running a publicly-traded biotech are likely to give anyone a sense of the manic nature and the volatile ups and downs of drug development. And Mike Weiss, who headed Keryx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KERX]]) from 2002 to 2009, has both the scars and the trophies to prove it. But those lessons have left Weiss … Continue reading “Former Keryx Exec’s Mission: Turn TG Into the Next Pharmacyclics”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Aveo, Forma, Regeneron, RainDance, & More
The big news here at Xconomy this week was the launch of our new Texas bureau. But out on the East Coast, the life sciences industry was buzzing from top to bottom as well. Nine-figure partnerships, FDA advisory panel debacles, venture financings, and more all dominated headlines from New York to Boston. —Cambridge, MA-based Aveo … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Aveo, Forma, Regeneron, RainDance, & More”
Aveo Shares Plummet as FDA Advisory Panel Votes Down Cancer Drug
A doomsday scenario played out for Aveo Oncology (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) today. The Cambridge, MA-based company saw 13 of 14 members of an FDA advisory panel vote against its kidney cancer drug, tivozanib, saying it shouldn’t be cleared for sale in the U.S. because of questions about clinical trial design and the drug’s overall benefits to … Continue reading “Aveo Shares Plummet as FDA Advisory Panel Votes Down Cancer Drug”