In an article published yesterday, National Institutes of Health leaders detailed how the NIH will spend the $500 million it got from Congress earlier this year to fight the opioid addiction epidemic. The plan, called HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term), includes new grants for 2018 and 2019 for academic groups and companies to fund … Continue reading “NIH Outlines $500M Plan to Develop New Pain Drugs and Fight Opioid Crisis”
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.
No Price Cuts Yet, But Azar Urges Congress to Target Drug Rebates & Transparency
Since President Trump announced his plan last month to lower prescription drug prices, a lot of rumors have been flying around that cuts are coming from certain companies, such as those that make insulin for diabetes patients. Those rumors haven’t materialized into anything real yet, but they did heighten the anticipation for today’s testimony from … Continue reading “No Price Cuts Yet, But Azar Urges Congress to Target Drug Rebates & Transparency”
CRISPR Risks? Researchers Stoke Fears of Cancer in Gene-Edited Cells
Two papers published today in Nature Medicine are raising a new potential red flag with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing: Human cells that are successfully edited in the lab may have a genetic malfunction known to drive many types of cancer. That genetic defect occurs in the gene is p53, nicknamed the “guardian of the genome” for … Continue reading “CRISPR Risks? Researchers Stoke Fears of Cancer in Gene-Edited Cells”
Langer, Yancopoulos & Hockfield to Headline Xcelerate at Biotech Week Boston
The life science industry is undergoing unprecedented change, with the recent commercialization of groundbreaking new treatments like gene therapy, the growing adoption of digital technologies, and increasing backlash against high drug prices. How should drug makers, researchers, and the healthcare system adapt? We have invited an all-star lineup of keynote speakers to share their thoughts … Continue reading “Langer, Yancopoulos & Hockfield to Headline Xcelerate at Biotech Week Boston”
Neon Therapeutics, Translate Bio Join the Ranks of IPO Hopefuls
At this rate, 2018 could be a record-breaking year for biotech IPOs. Two more Boston-area companies filed their IPO plans late last week. Neon Therapeutics is developing personalized cancer vaccines, one of which is in Phase 1 clinical testing. Translate Bio is a messenger RNA (mRNA) company that started human testing just last month. Neon … Continue reading “Neon Therapeutics, Translate Bio Join the Ranks of IPO Hopefuls”
Accent Therapeutics Debuts With $40M To Target RNA Modification
The story of how genes are regulated has gotten a whole lot more complicated in recent years. Scientists, using ever-improving sequencing technologies, are discovering the many ways the cell can turn gene activity up or down. With this growing insight comes an expanding list of potential drug targets and biotech startups that are going after … Continue reading “Accent Therapeutics Debuts With $40M To Target RNA Modification”
Celsius Snags $65M to Harness Single-Cell Genomics for Drug Discovery
With biotech flush with venture capital funding, it seems that every hot new area of biology research now comes with its own startup. The latest is Celsius Therapeutics, and the new technology is single-cell genomics—the study of genetic activity of individual cells. Celsius was founded by scientists from the Broad Institute and elsewhere, and the … Continue reading “Celsius Snags $65M to Harness Single-Cell Genomics for Drug Discovery”
Xconomy Awards Nominations Deadline Extended Until Friday, May 18
Many of the judges of the 2017 Xconomy Awards came out to the Awards gala last September to find out who would take home our cool 3D-printed trophies, and they commented on how impressed they were with the finalists they got to judge and the winners they helped to pick. “They were a great combination … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards Nominations Deadline Extended Until Friday, May 18”
Only Two Days Left to Nominate for the Xconomy Awards
Last year, the winners of the inaugural Xconomy Awards included a 30-year-old CEO of a young cell therapy startup commercializing his work from MIT (Armon Sharei; Young Innovator); a Dana-Farber oncologist who works closely with breast cancer patients as part of his research (Nikhil Wagle; Patient Partnership); an MIT technology licensing veteran who played a … Continue reading “Only Two Days Left to Nominate for the Xconomy Awards”
Ironwood Pharma to Split in Two, Forming New Rare Disease Biz
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRWD]]) is making the unusual move of splitting up into two separate, publicly traded companies. One, which will keep the Ironwood name, will focus on selling its three commercial drugs and developing two experimental ones. The other, yet to be named, will be a R&D firm working on a pipeline of earlier … Continue reading “Ironwood Pharma to Split in Two, Forming New Rare Disease Biz”
New CRISPR Startup from Feng Zhang Revealed
[Updated 4/28/18, 11:30 a.m. See below.] With all the buzz this week about the new CRISPR diagnostic startup from the University of California, Berkeley lab of Jennifer Doudna, perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that news of another CRISPR startup—this one associated with another CRISPR pioneer, Feng Zhang—is now coming out. The Boston Business Journal … Continue reading “New CRISPR Startup from Feng Zhang Revealed”
Third Rock’s Cedilla Launches with $56M for Protein Stability Drugs
As new technologies give drug developers greater insight into protein biology, more biotech and pharma companies are now emboldened to pursue what have long been dismissed as undruggable targets—the 75-85 percent of all human proteins that are beyond the reach of today’s medicines. One more startup is joining the quest to find small molecule drugs … Continue reading “Third Rock’s Cedilla Launches with $56M for Protein Stability Drugs”
Alkermes Depression Drug Review Goes Ahead After FDA About-Face
Less than a month after the FDA refused to review Alkermes’ new drug application for the company’s depression drug, the agency has changed its mind, according to a statement from the company. After it “clarified certain aspects of the NDA submission”, Alkermes said Monday that the FDA will now accept the application without requiring additional … Continue reading “Alkermes Depression Drug Review Goes Ahead After FDA About-Face”
Lilly Licenses Sigilon’s Cell Encapsulation Tech for Diabetes Therapy
A day after Pfizer decided to step back from the development of a universal cell therapy for cancer, Eli Lilly is jumping in, this time for diabetes. Lilly is licensing cell encapsulation technology from Cambridge, MA biotech Sigilon Therapeutics to develop an off-the-shelf, or “allogeneic”, cell therapy to treat type 1 diabetes. The two companies … Continue reading “Lilly Licenses Sigilon’s Cell Encapsulation Tech for Diabetes Therapy”
At Opioid Hearing, BIO Exec Proposes Ways to Boost Pain Drug Development
After months of meetings and Congressional hearings on the unrelenting opioid addiction crisis, Congress has finally responded, with 25 bills that aim to attack the problem from all sides. The House Energy and Commerce Committee began two days of hearings on Wednesday that reviewed the draft legislation that lawmakers want to get to the House … Continue reading “At Opioid Hearing, BIO Exec Proposes Ways to Boost Pain Drug Development”
Despite Pharma Ties, Some Patient Groups Protest High Drug Prices
For 20 years, Deborah Long (pictured) has been relying on powerful drugs to keep her multiple sclerosis in check. Her out-of-pocket costs were pretty reasonable until two years ago, she says, when she had to switch insurance companies. Her new insurer made her switch to a different drug, Copaxone. When she tried to fill the … Continue reading “Despite Pharma Ties, Some Patient Groups Protest High Drug Prices”
Dermira Abandons Acne Drug After Phase 3 Flops, Stock Price Craters
Skin-drug company Dermira today announced that two pivotal Phase 3 trials testing its experimental acne drug, olumacostat glasaretil, failed to meet their main goals. The company said that based on those results, it expects to stop development of the drug, which was designed to treat people with moderate to severe acne. Dermira’s (NASDAQ [[ticker:DERM]]) stock … Continue reading “Dermira Abandons Acne Drug After Phase 3 Flops, Stock Price Craters”
Xconomy Awards—2018 Nominations Are Open
[Correction 3/1/18, 11:07am ET, see below] The Xconomy Awards are back for the second year! Today, we are opening up nominations for the 2018 Awards, which celebrate the best people, companies, and organizations in the Boston/New England life sciences community. The 2017 inaugural awards were a huge success, with an impressive crop of nominations, a … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards—2018 Nominations Are Open”
CRISPR Race 2.0: Doudna and Zhang Compete on a CRISPR Diagnostic
CRISPR pioneers and competitors Jennifer Doudna and Feng Zhang are once again locked in a CRISPR race, this time to show how CRISPR—the technology best known for its gene-editing prowess—can also be harnessed to develop a sensitive diagnostic. Today, two research groups, one led by Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, the other by … Continue reading “CRISPR Race 2.0: Doudna and Zhang Compete on a CRISPR Diagnostic”
Astellas Buys Stem Cell Gene-Editing Firm Universal Cells for $102.5M
A Seattle-based company developing a universal source of stem cells for cell therapies has been acquired by Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma for $102.5 million. Universal Cells’ technology aims to make stem cells that don’t have some of the problems that current cell therapies face, such as the immune rejection of transplanted cells. This is an attractive … Continue reading “Astellas Buys Stem Cell Gene-Editing Firm Universal Cells for $102.5M”
As Trump Budget Addresses Opioid Crisis, BIO Report Reveals Scarce Pain Drug Development
[Updated 2/12/2018, 1:37pm ET, see below.] With the opioid epidemic showing little sign of letting up, new ways of treating chronic pain are desperately needed. But the development of non-addictive, non-opioid pain drugs lags far behind drug R&D for other diseases (I wrote a few months ago about why that is), and a report from … Continue reading “As Trump Budget Addresses Opioid Crisis, BIO Report Reveals Scarce Pain Drug Development”
Disney, Family Offices Back Second Bio Startup from Tech Entrepreneur Haney
To launch his first biotech startup, Dragonfly Therapeutics, Bill Haney went to private family offices, including one linked to the Disney family, rather than venture firms. Now the tech investor, entrepreneur and filmmaker is at it again, leaning on some of the same investors to fund Skyhawk Therapeutics, a new company joining an emerging race … Continue reading “Disney, Family Offices Back Second Bio Startup from Tech Entrepreneur Haney”
In Quest to Drug RNA With Small Molecules, Expansion Pulls In $55M
Drug developers have long thought that targeting RNA with small molecule drugs was too difficult, but new insight into RNA biology is starting to change their minds. In the latest sign of this growing interest, a new startup, Expansion Therapeutics, today announced a $55.3 million Series A investment round. The financing will fund the development … Continue reading “In Quest to Drug RNA With Small Molecules, Expansion Pulls In $55M”
Xconomy Award Winner Vicki Sato on How to Build Biotech in New York
Vicki Sato has had a long career helping to lead major biotech businesses in Boston and then teaching Harvard Business School students how to create and grow high-tech companies. So it’s no surprise that when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wanted to figure out how replicate Boston’s success in biotech in his city, … Continue reading “Xconomy Award Winner Vicki Sato on How to Build Biotech in New York”
CRISPR Could Soon Charge into Hearing Loss Drug Race, New Study Suggests
Nearly 40 million Americans say they have trouble hearing for one reason or another. There are no drug treatments, just hearing aids and cochlear implants, but biotech companies such as Frequency Therapeutics and Decibel Therapeutics believe they now have the means to make noise in this largely untapped market. The race to drug the ears, … Continue reading “CRISPR Could Soon Charge into Hearing Loss Drug Race, New Study Suggests”
Flagship Bags $618M, Its Largest Raise Ever, For a New Startup Crop
More money continues to flow into the creation of new biotechs. Flagship Pioneering, one of the life science industry’s major early stage venture investors, announced today that it has raised $618 million, the largest influx of money to the coffers of the Cambridge, MA-based firm since its founding in 2000. It says it now has … Continue reading “Flagship Bags $618M, Its Largest Raise Ever, For a New Startup Crop”
Kyn Nabs $49M to Target Metabolism and Beat Other Cancer Drug Combos
[Updated 12/14/2017, 9:23 am, see below.] Cancer immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which unleash immune cells on tumors, have taken the oncology world by storm over the past few years. But they work for only a fraction of patients, and one possible reason is that tumors have many ways to hide from the attack. Kyn … Continue reading “Kyn Nabs $49M to Target Metabolism and Beat Other Cancer Drug Combos”
OrbiMed Founder Isaly Steps Down After Sexual Harassment Report
Sam Isaly, managing partner of OrbiMed Advisors, is stepping down from the company. OrbiMed, a leading healthcare investment firm founded by Isaly, made the announcement Thursday, two days after Stat published a report of sexual harassment allegations from former OrbiMed employees against Isaly. According to OrbiMed’s statement, Isaly will be replaced by a committee of … Continue reading “OrbiMed Founder Isaly Steps Down After Sexual Harassment Report”
ReWalk, Ekso Race to Sell Exoskeletons in Tough Rehab Market
Every day, Ashley Barnes straps a battery-powered device onto her waist, legs, and feet, which allows the paraplegic to stand up from her wheelchair and go for walks with the help of crutches. The wearable brace has motors located at Barnes’s hip and knee joints that move the “exoskeleton,” along with her legs and feet, … Continue reading “ReWalk, Ekso Race to Sell Exoskeletons in Tough Rehab Market”
With $114M Injection, Semma Continues Quest for Diabetes Cell Therapy
For all the excitement surrounding stem-cell based therapies in the early 2000s, the field still has little to show for it in terms of approved therapies. The many technical challenges of working with stem cells have not, however, deterred Semma Therapeutics, which today announced a whopping $114 million Series B round from a sizable list … Continue reading “With $114M Injection, Semma Continues Quest for Diabetes Cell Therapy”
Xconomy Newcomer Award Winner Amy Schulman on Boston Biotech Life
Amy Schulman is relatively new not just to Boston, but also to biotech. Before she moved to Boston in 2014 to join Polaris Partners, she was a partner at a major law firm and then worked at Pfizer in New York, where she served as general counsel and also headed up its huge consumer healthcare … Continue reading “Xconomy Newcomer Award Winner Amy Schulman on Boston Biotech Life”
Few Opioid Alternatives In Sight as Crisis Gains Political Attention
As opioid-related deaths skyrocket across the U.S., momentum to combat the epidemic has been mounting in Washington. But the crisis has also highlighted a glaring problem that no amount of politics or policymaking will solve soon: The lack of non-addictive pain medicines. “What is disappointing over the last half-century is that we haven’t really created … Continue reading “Few Opioid Alternatives In Sight as Crisis Gains Political Attention”
Q&A: Xconomy Award Winner Nikhil Wagle on Building Patient Partnerships
[Updated 10/30/ 9:33 am ET to include news of the data release and new tweets, see below.] You only have to see a few tweets from metastatic breast cancer patients and patient groups to see how they feel about the Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Project and its leader, Nikhil Wagle (pictured). The breast cancer oncologist … Continue reading “Q&A: Xconomy Award Winner Nikhil Wagle on Building Patient Partnerships”
CRISPR Pioneer Zhang Details New Editing System Downstream From DNA
[Updated 10/25/17 4:26pm ET] Researchers at the Broad Institute have adapted the CRISPR-Cas gene editing system so that it can change the sequence of RNA, rather than edit DNA. RNA transports instructions from DNA in the nucleus to the cell’s protein-making machinery. CRISPR/Cas9-based drugs, which aim to correct genetic disease by making permanent changes to … Continue reading “CRISPR Pioneer Zhang Details New Editing System Downstream From DNA”
Xconomy Young Innovator Award Winner Armon Sharei—CEO Before 30
It was by accident that Armon Sharei first discovered the technology that his startup, SQZ Biotech, is now using to develop cell therapies for cancer. As a grad student at MIT, he and his collaborators developed a relatively quick and simple way to deliver large molecules such as proteins into cells—by squeezing those cells enough … Continue reading “Xconomy Young Innovator Award Winner Armon Sharei—CEO Before 30”
Bridge Project Q&A: “Big Idea” Winners on Connecting Cancer Experts
In the Boston area, two major centers of academic cancer research are separated by the Charles River, which, as local residents know, acts as a barrier in many ways. On the Boston side, the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DFHCC) brings together researchers from seven Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools, while in Cambridge, MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative … Continue reading “Bridge Project Q&A: “Big Idea” Winners on Connecting Cancer Experts”
Q&A: Xconomy Award Winner Rob Perez On How Boston Biotech Can Get Involved With The Community
In 2015, as Rob Perez (pictured) was leaving Cubist Pharmaceuticals, he knew that he wanted to do more to make a difference in the Boston community. As Cubist’s chief operating officer and president (and CEO, briefly, before Cubist was acquired by Merck), Perez had a lot to do with getting Cubist employees involved outside of … Continue reading “Q&A: Xconomy Award Winner Rob Perez On How Boston Biotech Can Get Involved With The Community”
Xconomy Award Winner Lita Nelsen Reflects on a Career in Tech Transfer: Q&A
When Lita Nelsen first started working at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office (TLO) over 30 years ago, Kendall Square was home to only a few biotech companies, and spinning out new startups from MIT was more of an incidental thing (as she told Xconomy last year). But that changed drastically during Nelsen’s time there (including more … Continue reading “Xconomy Award Winner Lita Nelsen Reflects on a Career in Tech Transfer: Q&A”
Celebrating Boston Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow
We at Xconomy were thrilled to see such a great turnout at our first-ever Awards Gala—350 people from the Boston life sciences community filled a Hynes Convention Center ballroom. As Bob Buderi, our founder and editor-in-chief, said in his opening remarks on September 26 before a sold-out crowd: We clearly struck a chord. Top scientists, … Continue reading “Celebrating Boston Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow”
The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…
We are excited to announce the recipients of the first-ever Xconomy Awards. Big Idea Bridge Project The Bridge Project was hatched by MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in Cambridge and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston to fund collaborative research between cancer researchers from MIT and Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools. Its aim is … Continue reading “The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…”
Akili, Emulate, Ginkgo & More: The Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists
Research that happens at the intersection of different fields can lead to new innovations that tackle pressing problems in the life sciences. This year’s finalists in the Innovation at the Intersection category show the value of bringing different disciplines—engineering and biology, IT and medicine—together. Here are brief introductions to the finalists. The winners of this … Continue reading “Akili, Emulate, Ginkgo & More: The Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists”
Dealmaker, Thought Leader & More: The X of the Year Xconomy Award Finalists
Given the size and diversity of the life sciences community in the Boston area, we at Xconomy knew that many candidates would be so unique that they wouldn’t fit neatly into a category. So we gave them a category of their own. These finalists represent the wide range of talent—from investors to entrepreneurs and thought-leaders—that … Continue reading “Dealmaker, Thought Leader & More: The X of the Year Xconomy Award Finalists”
Going Big or Against the Tide: Meet the Big Idea & Contrarian Award Finalists
[Corrected, 1:25pm ET, see below] All innovation and companies start off as an idea. Some will gain more traction than others over time, but we at Xconomy think that big ideas—and the people and companies in Boston’s life sciences community bold enough to try to implement them—are worth celebrating. Some of those ideas even go … Continue reading “Going Big or Against the Tide: Meet the Big Idea & Contrarian Award Finalists”
The Winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award Are…
The editors at Xconomy have been working hard the last few weeks putting together the program for the Xconomy Awards Gala. We are really excited to announce the two winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award. Lita Nelsen, MIT (retired) Lita Nelsen (pictured left) played a pivotal role in transforming Kendall Square and Boston into … Continue reading “The Winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award Are…”
Lasker Award Goes to HPV Vaccine Developers Lowy, Schiller
A top prize in American biomedical science was awarded today to two scientists for their discoveries that led to the development of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted virus. Douglas Lowy (pictured right), acting director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and John Schiller (left), also at … Continue reading “Lasker Award Goes to HPV Vaccine Developers Lowy, Schiller”
Coming to Boston Was a “No-Brainer”: Xconomy’s Newcomer Award Finalists
Building a biotech business comes down to a lot of meetings and networking with potential new partners, hires, investors and others. Having all of these folks, along with top academics, highly concentrated in an urban center (that also has a lot of nice restaurants and coffee shops to meet in) was a key factor in … Continue reading “Coming to Boston Was a “No-Brainer”: Xconomy’s Newcomer Award Finalists”
Power to the Patient: Meet Xconomy’s Patient Partnership Award Finalists
It’s clear at this point that patients are no longer just subjects in clinical trials. Thanks to the growing power of patient advocacy groups—and an FDA eager to hear their perspective—patients and drug developers are increasingly finding creating ways to work together, as we’ve seen with the four finalists in the Patient Partnership category of … Continue reading “Power to the Patient: Meet Xconomy’s Patient Partnership Award Finalists”
Expanding Tissue and Squeezing Cells: Meet Xconomy’s Young Innovator Award Finalists
The finalists in the Young Innovator category of the 2017 Xconomy Awards show that it’s never too early in life to start a company or invent a new technology. These four individuals (30 years of age or under) share a strong drive, even a restlessness, to build new things that make a difference. Three knew … Continue reading “Expanding Tissue and Squeezing Cells: Meet Xconomy’s Young Innovator Award Finalists”
Dragonfly, eGenesis, Spero & More: Xconomy’s Startup Award Finalists
Startups play a critical role in the innovation economy that we chronicle at Xconomy—transforming new ideas that begin in a lab into the products and companies of tomorrow. No surprise, then, that the startup category in our first-ever Awards program was a particularly competitive one, loaded with private companies (no more than 5 years old) … Continue reading “Dragonfly, eGenesis, Spero & More: Xconomy’s Startup Award Finalists”
Xconomy Awards: The Finalists Are….
The nominees for our first ever Xconomy Awards were an impressive bunch, and represent a wide range of the technologies, approaches, and yes, personalities, that are all driving Boston biotech today. There’s a lot of talent in this town, so narrowing the list of more than 250 nominations down to a handful of finalists in … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards: The Finalists Are….”