We’ve received a lot of great nominations for this year’s Xconomy Awards Boston, but we’ve had several people ask for more time to get their nominations in. So we are extending the deadline until Friday, May 24 at 5pm eastern. This will be the final deadline—please get your nominations in soon for the top people, … Continue reading “Nomination Deadline Extended for Xconomy Awards Boston”
Author: Corie Lok
Corie Lok was formerly Xconomy's Special Projects Editor. Before joining Xconomy in 2017, she was at Nature for 12 years, first as an editor with the Careers section, then as a senior editor who launched Nature Network (a blogging and social networking website), and finally as an editor and features writer on Nature’s news team.
She earned a master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University and was a producer on the science and health beat for two national radio shows at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto. She then spent two years covering emerging technologies with MIT Technology Review before arriving at Nature.
Corie is based in Boston and loves reading stories to her young son and playing the obscure but exciting winter sport of curling.
Laurie Glimcher To Headline Xconomy Keynote Series in Boston in September
As groundbreaking therapies and diagnostics are coming to market, more patients are benefiting from the promise of precision medicine, but many are not, or aren’t able to access the latest treatments and technologies. What are hospitals and drug and diagnostic developers doing to make sure more cancer patients will go on to lead long, healthy … Continue reading “Laurie Glimcher To Headline Xconomy Keynote Series in Boston in September”
Meet the X of the Year Finalists for the Xconomy Awards San Diego
The Xconomy Awards categories weren’t enough to capture the full diversity of the San Diego life science community. So we at Xconomy created X of the Year for people who are so unique they needed their own categories. Read on for short introductions of the X of the Year finalists. This is part of a … Continue reading “Meet the X of the Year Finalists for the Xconomy Awards San Diego”
Nominations for Xconomy Awards Boston Ending Soon
The Xconomy Awards Boston program has celebrated the best in the area’s life sciences industry for the last two years. We couldn’t have done it without receiving hundreds of nominations of the people, companies, and organizations that are blazing trails in drug research and development, life science research, and digital health. We need your help again … Continue reading “Nominations for Xconomy Awards Boston Ending Soon”
Roswell, Organovo & More: Xconomy Awards Innovation at the Intersection Finalists
[Corie Lok and Frank Vinluan co-authored this article.] Whether they’re 3D printing human tissues, encoding data in DNA, or securing medical devices against cyber attacks, the finalists in the Innovation at the Intersection category of the Xconomy Awards San Diego are showing how to bring different disciplines to bear on tough problems in regenerative medicine, … Continue reading “Roswell, Organovo & More: Xconomy Awards Innovation at the Intersection Finalists”
Xconomy Awards San Diego Diversity Finalists Are Scaling Up Empowerment
In an awards program, it can seem like a competition, but in the Commitment to Diversity category, many of the finalists are in fact collaborating with each other or share common roots. For example, finalist Silvia Mah is also a co-founder of one of the other finalists in the category, Ad Astra Ventures. And Ad … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards San Diego Diversity Finalists Are Scaling Up Empowerment”
Xconomy Is Hiring a Digital Product Manager—Apply Here
If you (or someone you know) is an expert web developer/designer and product manager with a passion for journalism, then we want you! We’re looking for someone to join our Boston office and take charge of the Xconomy.com website: help us maintain the site, figure out what needs improving, and then work with a global … Continue reading “Xconomy Is Hiring a Digital Product Manager—Apply Here”
Nominations Are Open for the 2019 Xconomy Awards in Boston
John Maraganore, CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; Penny Heaton, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute; digital health leader Pear Therapeutics; and renowned women-in-science advocate and MIT professor emerita Nancy Hopkins. These outstanding leaders were among the winners of the 2018 Xconomy Awards, which celebrate the top people, companies, and organizations in Boston … Continue reading “Nominations Are Open for the 2019 Xconomy Awards in Boston”
Beam Brings In $135M to Turn CRISPR Base Editing into Drugs
Beam Therapeutics made a splash last year when it launched with $87 million to develop medicines that use a more precise form of CRISPR editing. Beam’s promise of CRISPR-based therapeutics that swap out specific bases or “letters” in the genome—something the current generation of CRISPR-based drugs can’t do—has been so enticing to investors that now … Continue reading “Beam Brings In $135M to Turn CRISPR Base Editing into Drugs”
SPECIAL REPORT: 2019 Biopharma Outlook – Facing an Uncertain Future
After years of boom times, the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry is dealing with unprecedented threats on several fronts: public backlash against high drug prices, slowing sales, and the possibility of more government regulation. In this Xconomy Special Report, our veteran biotech journalists Alex Lash and Ben Fidler bring you deep insights, based on conversations with key … Continue reading “SPECIAL REPORT: 2019 Biopharma Outlook – Facing an Uncertain Future”
Seres Lays Off 30% of Staff, CSO Leaves After Pipeline Review
Seres Therapeutics was one of the first microbiome companies to form, back in 2010. And the Flagship Pioneering company was the first to go public. But today, faced with the challenges of developing a fundamentally different kind of therapeutic—consortia of human microbes—the company said it is axing 30 percent of its staff (around 30 employees … Continue reading “Seres Lays Off 30% of Staff, CSO Leaves After Pipeline Review”
Dewpoint Debuts with $60M to Target Protein Droplets Linked to Disease
An exciting new area of cell biology research that has emerged in only the last decade has already spawned a startup, which launches today with $60 million in Series A financing. Dewpoint Therapeutics seeks to develop drugs that target a kind of liquid droplet widely found inside cells. These droplets (think bubbles of oil in … Continue reading “Dewpoint Debuts with $60M to Target Protein Droplets Linked to Disease”
Despite Buyout, Celgene Dealmaking Rolls On With Kyn, Obsidian Tie-Ups
[Updated 12:35pm ET with comments from Michael Gilman, Obsidian CEO, see below.] Bristol-Myers Squibb’s huge proposed buyout of Celgene earlier this month has left many in biotech circles concerned that the Summit, NJ, drugmaker’s days of creative, aggressive dealmaking with smaller companies might be over. So far, however, that isn’t the case. Two Boston-area biotechs, … Continue reading “Despite Buyout, Celgene Dealmaking Rolls On With Kyn, Obsidian Tie-Ups”
Uncertainty Grows for Biotech as Government, FDA Shutdown Drags On
The partial government shutdown could soon become the longest shutdown in history, and biotech firms that have submitted regulatory filings are facing greater uncertainty about their future plans. More than 40 percent of FDA workers and thousands at the SEC are furloughed, and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is resorting to Twitter to post updates about … Continue reading “Uncertainty Grows for Biotech as Government, FDA Shutdown Drags On”
Sage Hits Mark in Postpartum Depression Phase 3 Trial, Stock Surges
Sage Therapeutics could soon win FDA approval for its postpartum depression (PPD) drug brexanalone, a 60-hour infusion supervised by a medical professional that could become the first drug to the market for the condition. But another experimental Sage drug that works in a similar way—but is a pill that patients could potentially take at home—called … Continue reading “Sage Hits Mark in Postpartum Depression Phase 3 Trial, Stock Surges”
Frequency Nabs $42M for Hearing Loss Drugs, Clinical Data On The Way
Hearing loss drug development continues to attract investment, with Frequency Therapeutics announcing today that it has brought in $42 million in a Series B financing to help it move its treatment through clinical testing. Boston area-based Frequency is working on small molecule drugs that stimulate the growth of dormant stem cells in the body, and … Continue reading “Frequency Nabs $42M for Hearing Loss Drugs, Clinical Data On The Way”
Ribon Raises $65M to Pursue PARP-Blocking Pills for Cancer
A new class of ovarian and breast cancer drugs that thwart a DNA repair mechanism ushered in a novel approach to treating cancer. The first PARP inhibitor was approved in 2014. That drug, and others that followed, block a PARP enzyme that plays a key role in this repair process. But it turns out there’s … Continue reading “Ribon Raises $65M to Pursue PARP-Blocking Pills for Cancer”
DBV Pulls FDA Application for Peanut Allergy Treatment, Stock Craters
The race to a peanut allergy treatment just got a little more interesting, with a major player, DBV Technologies withdrawing its application to the FDA for approval of its “Viaskin Peanut” patch. France-based DBV (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DBVT]]) said in a statement late Wednesday that its decision was based on feedback from the agency, and the company … Continue reading “DBV Pulls FDA Application for Peanut Allergy Treatment, Stock Craters”
Gilead, Scholar Rock Sign $80M Up Front Deal for Fibrosis Drugs
Drugmakers are increasingly turning their attention toward fibrosis, the excessive growth of connective tissue that can lead to scarring and dysfunction of multiple organs including the lungs, liver and kidneys. In the latest deal centered on this disorder, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) will pay Scholar Rock of Cambridge, MA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SRRK]]) $80 million up front … Continue reading “Gilead, Scholar Rock Sign $80M Up Front Deal for Fibrosis Drugs”
Can Pay-For-Results Drug Pricing Work? A Q&A With Michael Sherman
[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of posts sharing thoughts from industry and technology leaders about 2018 trends.] It’s been almost a year since Harvard Pilgrim Health Care signed what’s known as a “value-based agreement” with Spark Therapeutics to cover Luxturna, Spark’s $850,000 gene therapy for a form of vision loss. In doing so, Harvard … Continue reading “Can Pay-For-Results Drug Pricing Work? A Q&A With Michael Sherman”
Seer Launches to Develop Liquid Biopsy for Cancer, Brain Disease
Omid Farokhzad has, as he says, “been around the block a few times” in biotech. The cancer nanomedicine researcher has cofounded a handful of companies that have tried to develop nanotech-based and other drugs for cancer and other diseases. But their results have been mixed. BIND Therapeutics had some clinical disappointments and went bankrupt in … Continue reading “Seer Launches to Develop Liquid Biopsy for Cancer, Brain Disease”
Eli Lilly Partners with AC Immune on Tau Blockers for Alzheimer’s
There’s at least one major pharmaceutical company that isn’t giving up yet on finding a drug for Alzheimer’s disease, despite a long trail of clinical flops. Eli Lilly is pairing up with AC Immune to develop drugs that block tau, a protein linked to the neurodegenerative disease. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, AC Immune (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Eli Lilly Partners with AC Immune on Tau Blockers for Alzheimer’s”
Brii Bio’s Alliance with VBI Vaccines Adds Hepatitis B Drug to Pipeline
Brii Biosciences launched earlier this year with $260 million and a mission to find new medicines in infectious disease and other therapeutic areas and bring them to China. Today, the startup is announcing new partnerships that jump-start its pipeline, with an eye on potentially curing hepatitis B. Brii, co-founded by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) infectious disease … Continue reading “Brii Bio’s Alliance with VBI Vaccines Adds Hepatitis B Drug to Pipeline”
Ireland to Sequence 400K Genomes With New Precision Medicine Effort
Ireland is the latest country to undertake an ambitious national project to sequence the genomes of a sizable chunk of its population. Genomics Medicine Ireland (GMI), a population genomics company based in Dublin (pictured), announced today that it is receiving $225 million in “near-term” investment (up to a total of $400 million with milestone payments) … Continue reading “Ireland to Sequence 400K Genomes With New Precision Medicine Effort”
Ribometrix Takes Aim at “Undruggable” RNA with $30M Series A Funding
Most drugs target proteins in the cell, but the world of RNA has remained largely untapped by companies making chemical-based, or small-molecule drugs. That’s changing though—just in the last couple of years, there’s been a mini-boom in biotechs trying to overturn the long-held dogma that messenger RNA molecules (which carry the genetic instructions for proteins … Continue reading “Ribometrix Takes Aim at “Undruggable” RNA with $30M Series A Funding”
Pre-Existing Immunity to CRISPR Found in 96% of People in Study
[Updated October 30, 12:15pm ET with further comment, see below.] The immune systems of a large majority of people could already be primed to attack and possibly even disable a key component of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing therapeutics (which are quickly moving towards their first human tests), suggests new research published today. If this finding sounds … Continue reading “Pre-Existing Immunity to CRISPR Found in 96% of People in Study”
Trump Plan Ties Medicare Drug Prices to Cheaper Foreign Ones
[Updated 5:41pm ET with analyst note, see below.] When the Trump administration announced its blueprint for lowering prescription drug prices in May, many observers said it was too soft on the biopharma industry and didn’t contain concrete initiatives that could truly cut costs. But with the U.S. midterm elections fast approaching and the high cost … Continue reading “Trump Plan Ties Medicare Drug Prices to Cheaper Foreign Ones”
Centrexion Plans IPO to Bankroll Non-Opioid Pain Drugs
Centrexion Therapeutics is notable for focusing solely on developing non-opioid, non-addictive pain drugs—an area that biopharma companies have largely avoided. Now the Boston-based startup wants Wall Street’s help with the effort. Centrexion has outlined plans for an IPO. The company has set a preliminary IPO target of $86 million, though that figure is subject to … Continue reading “Centrexion Plans IPO to Bankroll Non-Opioid Pain Drugs”
Spinraza Inventors Take Home $3M Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
The inventor and developer of a drug, nusinersen (Spinraza), are among the winners of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Adrian Krainer (pictured) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Frank Bennett, senior vice president of research at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, share the $3 million award. The Breakthrough Prizes, now it their seventh year, tout themselves as … Continue reading “Spinraza Inventors Take Home $3M Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences”
Xconomy Awards 2018 Gala Honors the Best of Boston Life Science: Slideshow
The 2nd annual Xconomy Awards Gala was a who’s who of Boston biotech. About 400 people from across the life science ecosystem came out to Boston’s Hynes Convention Center last month to celebrate the finalists over dinner and drinks, find out who got to take home the awards, and reconnect with friends and colleagues. It … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards 2018 Gala Honors the Best of Boston Life Science: Slideshow”
In New York, Gotham Starts Up With $54M for RNA-Modifying Drugs
A new company has emerged from New York City’s growing startup biotech scene. Gotham Therapeutics launched today with a $54 million Series A round, becoming the second startup since May to form with a plan to alter RNA molecules with chemical drugs. The funding was co-led by Versant Ventures, a venture firm that formed an … Continue reading “In New York, Gotham Starts Up With $54M for RNA-Modifying Drugs”
Nobel Medicine Prize Honors Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneers Allison, Honjo
[Updated, 11:45 am ET, with comments from press conference] Harnessing the immune system to fight cancer has transformed the treatment of many cancers, and the lives of countless cancer patients who have seen their disease go into remission. This has led many people to speculate over the last several years that the founding researchers of … Continue reading “Nobel Medicine Prize Honors Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneers Allison, Honjo”
Akrevia Launches with $30M for Next-Gen Cancer Immunotherapy
What does the second generation of cancer immunotherapy look like? For Tim Clackson, president of a new biotech launching today, it will hopefully include protein-based drugs that stimulate the immune system to attack tumors in a more targeted way—by only powering up at the site of the tumor, and not throughout the body. Akrevia Therapeutics … Continue reading “Akrevia Launches with $30M for Next-Gen Cancer Immunotherapy”
Gilead to Make Generic Hepatitis C Drugs and Cut Prices Up to 75%
Many large drug companies go to extraordinary lengths to fend off generic competition and extend the life of their patents, but Gilead today announced a highly unusual move in the opposite direction. In January 2019, the company will start selling “authorized” generic versions of two of its three hepatitis C (HCV) drugs, Epclusa and Harvoni, … Continue reading “Gilead to Make Generic Hepatitis C Drugs and Cut Prices Up to 75%”
Lasker Awards Recognize Propofol Discovery, Women in Science Advocate & Others
The winners of the U.S.’s most prestigious awards in biomedical sciences were announced today, for work in developing propofol, the world’s most widely used anesthetic drug; for key discoveries in RNA biology as well as for championing women in science; and for research in yeast that revealed new mechanisms of gene regulation. The Lasker Awards … Continue reading “Lasker Awards Recognize Propofol Discovery, Women in Science Advocate & Others”
The Winners of the 2018 Xconomy Awards Are…
This year’s nominees and finalists for the Xconomy Awards were even more impressive than last year’s (if that’s possible), making it that much tougher for our judges and the editors to pick the winners. There were multiple deserving winners in each category. But after much discussion and debate, we decided that these winners represent the … Continue reading “The Winners of the 2018 Xconomy Awards Are…”
MIT’s Susan Hockfield Talks Impact of Merging Biology and Engineering
When Susan Hockfield (pictured) became president of MIT in 2004, she soon made her mark as the first life scientist to lead the university. She championed the convergence of biology, engineering, and physical sciences research to bring about the next breakthroughs not just in medicine, but also in energy and other areas. During her tenure … Continue reading “MIT’s Susan Hockfield Talks Impact of Merging Biology and Engineering”
ICER, CRISPR, Biotech Activism & More: The X of the Year Finalists
With so many stellar Xconomy Award nominees this year, we wanted to recognize several who don’t fit neatly into the other categories, so we’ve created categories just for them. One of these nominees for X of the Year is gaining influence in the drug industry with its evaluations of drug cost effectiveness. Two more been … Continue reading “ICER, CRISPR, Biotech Activism & More: The X of the Year Finalists”
Digital Tools, Online Community & More: Patient Partnership Award Finalists
Patients are supposed to be at the center of medicine, but the sheer size and complexity of the healthcare and life science industries often makes it challenging to maintain focus on patients. The finalists in this year’s Patient Partnership category of the Xconomy Awards are trying to change this, by finding innovative ways to work … Continue reading “Digital Tools, Online Community & More: Patient Partnership Award Finalists”
Creating Companies Before 35: Meet the Young Innovator Award Finalists
Entrepreneur, scientist, doctor, startup founder, CEO, and in some cases, all of the above. This year’s Young Innovator award finalists—all 35 and under—have shown that they can do it all to try to translate an idea into new treatments or digital tools for patients and healthcare providers. Here’s more on the finalists. The winner will … Continue reading “Creating Companies Before 35: Meet the Young Innovator Award Finalists”
PureTech Health’s Karuna Snags $42M Series A for Schizophrenia Drug
[Updated August 3, 9:00am ET, see note below.] With $42 million in new investment, Karuna Pharmaceuticals, a PureTech Health company based in Boston, now has the funds to test in a Phase 2 clinical trial a drug for a disease where many have previously failed: schizophrenia. Karuna’s lead candidate, KarXT, is a combination of two … Continue reading “PureTech Health’s Karuna Snags $42M Series A for Schizophrenia Drug”
Precision Tinkering of Cells, Genes & Microbes: The Big Idea Finalists
Biology research has gotten so precise these days that scientists barely bat an eye when they talk about their ability to study the genome of individual cells or swap out single “letters” in DNA. So it’s probably no surprise that ultra-precise ways of measuring and manipulating cells, molecules and microbes have found their way into … Continue reading “Precision Tinkering of Cells, Genes & Microbes: The Big Idea Finalists”
ResTORbio Shares Soar on Clinical Data From Lung Infection Drug
Shares of Boston-based resTORbio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TORC]]) have nearly doubled to roughly $16 apiece, based on positive results the company released this morning from a Phase 2b trial of its drug for respiratory tract infections. The drug, RTB101, is a pill that blocks an enzyme called TORC1. The company says the drug works by boosting immune … Continue reading “ResTORbio Shares Soar on Clinical Data From Lung Infection Drug”
Nancy Hopkins Named Xconomy’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
We at Xconomy are excited to announce that we are honoring Nancy Hopkins, professor emerita at MIT, with our 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes Hopkins’s career in genetics and cancer biology research, as well as her groundbreaking work advocating for women in science that sparked change and inspired many in both academia and industry. She … Continue reading “Nancy Hopkins Named Xconomy’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner”
Introducing the 2018 Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists
From artificial intelligence (A.I.) to materials science, this year’s Xconomy Awards finalists in the Innovation at the Intersection category are bringing a variety of disciplines outside of biology to bear on tough problems in life science. The hope is that advanced algorithms, novel biomaterials, and digital technologies will make drug discovery more efficient, cancer immunotherapies … Continue reading “Introducing the 2018 Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists”
New Study Shows CRISPR Can Delete Big Chunks of DNA
[Updated 7/16/18 4:00pm ET, see note below] As CRISPR-based therapeutics inch closer to human tests in the U.S., academic researchers have kept up a steady drum beat about potential risks of the gene editing technique. They recently published two separate papers warning about possible dangers of CRISPR therapies, namely an increased risk of cancer. Both … Continue reading “New Study Shows CRISPR Can Delete Big Chunks of DNA”
Tango, Finch, Indigo & More: The 2018 Xconomy Award Startup Finalists
This year’s bumper crop of Xconomy Award startup finalists cover a wide range of technologies and approaches, from microbiome and gene therapy to regenerative medicine and emerging areas like chromatin biology. Some are early stage, some are already in the clinic and one even has products on the market. Here are brief profiles of the … Continue reading “Tango, Finch, Indigo & More: The 2018 Xconomy Award Startup Finalists”
The 2018 Xconomy Awards Finalists Are…
[Updated 6/28/18 5:20pm ET; see note below] There was discussion. There was debate. After much wrangling, the editors and judges have narrowed down the impressive list of nearly 300 nominees for the 2018 Xconomy Awards to an all-star group of 64 finalists in 11 categories. There is no doubt that the overall caliber of the … Continue reading “The 2018 Xconomy Awards Finalists Are…”
Skyhawk Lands $100M from Funding & Celgene Pact for RNA-Targeted Drugs
Almost exactly a year ago, a Boston-area cancer immunotherapy startup led by Bill Haney announced its first partnership, with Celgene. Haney, a tech entrepreneur, filmmaker and investor, is at it again today, announcing a similar deal with the Summit, NJ, drug maker, but this time as the head of his other, newer biotech company, Skyhawk … Continue reading “Skyhawk Lands $100M from Funding & Celgene Pact for RNA-Targeted Drugs”
Take Two: Biotech Party with Nearly Nude Women Condemned by Industry Leaders
Biotech party organizers don’t seem to have learned the lesson from two years ago, when an infamous life science party in San Francisco with hired models in short dresses sparked outrage. This time, a biotech industry party held last week in Boston during the BIO annual meeting reportedly featured topless female dancers sporting logos of … Continue reading “Take Two: Biotech Party with Nearly Nude Women Condemned by Industry Leaders”