Cell Therapeutics isn’t going down without a fight. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said today that data from a clinical trial of Zevalin, its drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, along with an editorial by a leading lymphoma doc who urged his peers to “encourage wider appreciation and … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics, Still Fighting, Gets Zevalin Data Published In Cancer Journal”
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
Infinity Starts Trial of Hedgehog Pathway Blocker
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has started an early-stage clinical trial of 30 to 50 patients with advanced solid tumors, or those that have spread. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]) will test IPI-926, an orally-given blocker of the hedgehog pathway, which researchers say can play a central role in … Continue reading “Infinity Starts Trial of Hedgehog Pathway Blocker”
Allozyne, Developer of Multiple Sclerosis Drug in Fewer Shots, Poised to Enter Clinical Trials
Allozyne will find out soon whether it has a disruptive technology for treating multiple sclerosis. The fledgling Seattle biotech company plans to start its first clinical trial within the next six months, which will give it an early glimpse into whether it can do something that giant companies have been unable to do. It plans … Continue reading “Allozyne, Developer of Multiple Sclerosis Drug in Fewer Shots, Poised to Enter Clinical Trials”
First Inhalable TB Vaccine Being Prepped for Clinical Trials By Harvard, MEND Scientists
David Edwards, a biomedical engineering professor at Harvard University, thinks he may have a better vaccine against tuberculosis in the works. He’s negotiating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other international nonprofits to pump enough cash into a clinical trial to get an early glimpse into whether he’s really onto something. Edwards, through … Continue reading “First Inhalable TB Vaccine Being Prepped for Clinical Trials By Harvard, MEND Scientists”
Isis Pharmaceuticals’ Second Drug Aims to Block Marker of Heart Disease, Inflammation
Isis Pharmaceuticals CEO Stanley Crooke gets asked a lot about mipomersen, a drug his company is developing to treat dangerously high cholesterol in the blood. It is Isis’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) lead drug candidate and generated a huge partnership with Genzyme worth $325 million in cash upfront, with a lot more to come if this drug … Continue reading “Isis Pharmaceuticals’ Second Drug Aims to Block Marker of Heart Disease, Inflammation”
Science Educators Win $1.4M NIH Grant
The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research has received a $1.35 million award for science education programs from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year grant, one of 16 given nationally, will help secondary school teachers and students learn about the science and ethics of how biomedical research is conducted, the nonprofit group said in a … Continue reading “Science Educators Win $1.4M NIH Grant”
Sonosite Ousts CFO, Brings Back Former Finance Chief Mike Schuh
Sonosite has ousted its chief financial officer, just a couple weeks before it is due to report third quarter earnings. The Bothell, WA-based maker of hand-carried ultrasound machines said that Bernard Pitz, 47, has left “at the request of the company” and is being replaced by his predecessor, Michael Schuh. Sonosite (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SONO]]) didn’t give … Continue reading “Sonosite Ousts CFO, Brings Back Former Finance Chief Mike Schuh”
Genzyme Starts Fabrazyme Trial
Genzyme, the maker of drugs for rare genetic diseases, said today it has started enrolling patients in a study of patients with mild Fabry disease to see if a low dose of Fabrazyme will help. Data from the study could enable the company to apply for expanded approval of the drug for early treatment of … Continue reading “Genzyme Starts Fabrazyme Trial”
Seattle Genetics Collects Payment From Progenics
Seattle Genetics, the developer of targeted cancer drugs, said today it has received a milestone payment from Progenics Pharmaceuticals. Bothell, WA-based Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) got the payment because Progenics bought a license to the Seattle Genetics antibody-drug linking technology, and has used it to develop a drug candidate that has entered the first stage … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Collects Payment From Progenics”
Arch, In an Earlier Warning, Told Companies To Buckle Down, Brace For the Worst
Sequoia Capital may have been late to the punch. The legendary Silicon Valley venture firm made headlines last week when it called an emergency meeting to warn entrepreneurs to brace for hard times, but it turns out Arch Venture Partners began advising its portfolio companies to start cutting back more than two weeks ago when … Continue reading “Arch, In an Earlier Warning, Told Companies To Buckle Down, Brace For the Worst”
Biogen Turns Down Dying Patient’s Request For Tysabri—and Explains Why
Biogen Idec has turned down the requests of the family and high-profile friends of a dying patient at the Mayo Clinic to provide an emergency dose of Tysabri to try to combat the man’s cancer—an unapproved use of the drug. It’s a vivid example of the ethically treacherous zone that companies must traverse when patients … Continue reading “Biogen Turns Down Dying Patient’s Request For Tysabri—and Explains Why”
Targanta Preps For FDA Advisory Panel on New Antibiotic
Targanta Therapeutics is getting ready for a day next month that will go a long way toward determining whether it can sell its first marketed product. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, said it has been asked to appear before an FDA advisory committee on Nov. 19 to make its case for why regulators should approve … Continue reading “Targanta Preps For FDA Advisory Panel on New Antibiotic”
Northstar Gets OK For Second Depression Study
Northstar Neuroscience, a Seattle medical device company, said today the FDA has given conditional approval to run a second study of its brain-stimulation device against depression. Northstar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NSTR]]) said it plans to start enrolling the first of 24 patients in the study, called Prospect II, before the end of the year. Preliminary results should … Continue reading “Northstar Gets OK For Second Depression Study”
RXi Obtains License to RNAi Delivery Technology From UMass Medical School
RXi Pharmaceuticals, a Worcester, MA-based developer of drugs based on RNA interference technology, said today it has obtained an exclusive worldwide license to certain technology for oral delivery of RNAi drugs. The technology was developed by Michael Czech and Gary Ostroff at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Synta Gets $25M From Glaxo For Cancer Drug Milestone
Synta Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, MA-based cancer drug developer, said today it has earned $25 million from its partner, GlaxoSmithKline, for reaching milestones in development of elesclomol. The drug is currently in the final stage of testing for metastatic melanoma, in a trial called Symmetry. Synta (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTA]]) is eligible to receive another $25 million in … Continue reading “Synta Gets $25M From Glaxo For Cancer Drug Milestone”
Concert Pharmaceuticals, Flush With Well-Timed Venture Round, Aims for Hot Flashes, HIV
Concert Pharmaceuticals caught my eye a few weeks back with something unusual—an experimental drug for the hot flashes women get during menopause, without the risks of standard hormone-replacement therapy. I didn’t have a chance to interview CEO Roger Tung last month when his Lexington, MA-based company took this drug into its first clinical trial, so … Continue reading “Concert Pharmaceuticals, Flush With Well-Timed Venture Round, Aims for Hot Flashes, HIV”
CMC Icos Sees Expanding Markets for Biotech Drugs With New Factory
CMC Icos Biologics made news a couple weeks ago when it said it plans to expand its biotech drug factory in Bothell, and double its workforce there to about 250 employees in three to four years. The big question in my mind was why, so I tracked down CMC Icos president Gustavo Mahler to ask. … Continue reading “CMC Icos Sees Expanding Markets for Biotech Drugs With New Factory”
Dendreon Raises $20M in Stock Sale to Azimuth
Dendreon, the Seattle biotech company, said today in a regulatory filing that it raised $20 million by selling 3.6 million shares of common stock at $5.54 a share to Azimuth Opportunity Ltd. The sale, executed today, is first time it has tapped an equity line of credit with Azimuth worth as much as $130 million, … Continue reading “Dendreon Raises $20M in Stock Sale to Azimuth”
UW, Microsoft Research Aim to Turn Northwest Into a Neural Engineering Hotspot
The minute I walked into an auditorium at Microsoft Research in Redmond last night, I knew this was going to be a fun event. In foot-high letters, someone wrote on a white board, “FOOD BEHIND THIS WALL. EAT.” It turns out that that someone, who clearly had an innate sense for how to get people … Continue reading “UW, Microsoft Research Aim to Turn Northwest Into a Neural Engineering Hotspot”
Leroy Hood, Turning 70, Still Aims to Accomplish “The Most Ambitious Things of My Career”
It’s hard to believe Leroy Hood—a guy busy enough to employ not one, but two full-time executive assistants—is turning 70 today. But it’s true. This milestone seemed to be as good a reason as any to catch up with the biotechnology pioneer. So I stopped by his office at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) … Continue reading “Leroy Hood, Turning 70, Still Aims to Accomplish “The Most Ambitious Things of My Career””
Cypress Bioscience, Developer of Fibromyalgia Drug, Eagerly Awaits FDA Deadline
Cypress Bioscience is one of those biotech companies that has limped along for more than 20 years, losing loads of money. In the lovely language of chief operating officer Sabrina Johnson, it has gone through “several reincarnations.” The company now expects to find out by the end of this month whether its latest incarnation will … Continue reading “Cypress Bioscience, Developer of Fibromyalgia Drug, Eagerly Awaits FDA Deadline”
Institute for Systems Biology, UW Researchers Win Bulk of $68M Grants To Study Flu, SARS
Seattle researchers snapped up the lion’s share of a massive round of grants announced today by the National Institutes of Health. The Institute for Systems Biology, the University of Washington, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA—along with a group at Stanford University—have been awarded five-year grants totaling $68.7 million to study dangerous … Continue reading “Institute for Systems Biology, UW Researchers Win Bulk of $68M Grants To Study Flu, SARS”
Illlumina Sells Four Genome Analyzers to Singapore Research Center
San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), the maker of instruments for genetic analysis, said today it has sold four new Genome Analyzer machines to the Genome Institute of Singapore. Researchers there, who now have six of the machines, plan to use the tools for research of cancer and stem cells. The Singapore center counts several prominent … Continue reading “Illlumina Sells Four Genome Analyzers to Singapore Research Center”
Boston Scientific Co-Founders Sell Stock; Didn’t Mean It, Company Says
Lots of people have been selling Boston Scientific stock, and that includes the co-founders of the company. The Natick, MA-based medical device company (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) said today that co-founders Pete Nicholas and John Abele (an Xconomist) sold off about 13 million of their shares in the company yesterday, during frenzied volume of 38 million shares … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Co-Founders Sell Stock; Didn’t Mean It, Company Says”
Provasculon, a Biogen-backed Startup, Testing Regenerative Medicine on Hearts
Provasculon is tackling one of the bigger ideas in regenerative medicine—how to stimulate growth of new blood vessels after they’ve been damaged by a heart attack. The Cambridge, MA-based startup hasn’t drawn a lot of attention since it was unveiled in March, but since it’s the second company that Biogen Idec has decided to bet … Continue reading “Provasculon, a Biogen-backed Startup, Testing Regenerative Medicine on Hearts”
Dendreon Stays in the Hunt, Lilly Makes Amends, Calistoga Hires First CEO, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Fall is in the air, at least one baseball team in an Xconomy city is still alive (Red Sox, of course) and biotech news is coming out full throttle every day. Isn’t it a wonderful time of year? —Dendreon announced that its interim analysis of the 500-patient Impact trial of Provenge wasn’t the sort of … Continue reading “Dendreon Stays in the Hunt, Lilly Makes Amends, Calistoga Hires First CEO, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Founder’s Co-op Raises $1.8M From Seattle Internet Entrepreneurs
Founder’s Co-op, the Seattle-based tech incubator founded by Andy Sack and Chris DeVore, has gathered a $1.8 million investment round from some well-known Seattle Internet entrepreneurs, according to this report in TechCrunch. Ben Elowitz of Wetpaint and Blue Nile, Alex Algard of Whitepages.com, and Adam Brotman of Play Network all participated in the round, according … Continue reading “Founder’s Co-op Raises $1.8M From Seattle Internet Entrepreneurs”
Ex-Entellium Execs Charged With Fraud By Feds
Entellium’s former CEO, Paul Thomas Johnston, and former CFO Parrish L. Jones, have been arrested and charged with wire fraud, according to this story in the Associated Press. The fraud was uncovered late last month when an employee found evidence that Entellium, a Seattle software company, inflated its revenues to attract investors, according to the … Continue reading “Ex-Entellium Execs Charged With Fraud By Feds”
Torrey Pines Therapeutics Licenses Three Drugs to Cenomed
Torrey Pines Therapeutics said today that it has sold worldwide rights for three drug candidates to Cenomed Biosciences, a subsidiary of Abraxis Bioscience. Cenomed, based in Irvine, CA, will get rights to phenserine, Posiphen, and bisnorcymcerine for chemical defense and biodefense. La Jolla, CA-based Torrey Pines (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TPTX]]) stands to receive milestone and royalty payments … Continue reading “Torrey Pines Therapeutics Licenses Three Drugs to Cenomed”
Spiration Enters European Market with Device for Lung Disease
Spiration can now say it has its first marketed product. The Redmond, WA-based medical device maker said today that its partner, Tokyo-based Olympus, has started selling its device for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Europe. Spiration will manufacture the product, called the IBV Valve System, and Olympus will market it initially to select European physicians … Continue reading “Spiration Enters European Market with Device for Lung Disease”
Sequenom, Fueled by Blood Test for Down’s, Aims To Be “Google of Molecular Diagnostics”
Life is good at Sequenom these days. CEO Harry Stylli was so relaxed when I stopped by for an interview last week, he was practically lying down in one of the guest chairs in his office at one point while telling me the company’s story. San Diego-based Sequenom had its breakout moment on September 23. … Continue reading “Sequenom, Fueled by Blood Test for Down’s, Aims To Be “Google of Molecular Diagnostics””
Calistoga Builds Cancer Drug Strategy, Hires First CEO, Carol Gallagher
Calistoga Pharmaceuticals is growing up. The Seattle biotech company, which raised its founding $21 million round in March 2007, is announcing today it has hired its first CEO, Carol Gallagher, an executive who led the Rituxan oncology team at Biogen Idec when it crossed the $1 billion mark in sales. I stopped by Calistoga’s offices … Continue reading “Calistoga Builds Cancer Drug Strategy, Hires First CEO, Carol Gallagher”
Lilly Patches Up Relationships in Seattle Biotech, Pushes TB Drug Discovery
Eli Lilly did some fence-mending today with the Seattle biotech community. Almost two years ago, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant took over Icos, the Northwest’s most valuable biotech company, grabbing the billion-dollar erectile dysfunction drug it created and sending 365 talented local workers to the unemployment lines. It’s a story you often see with big drugmakers … Continue reading “Lilly Patches Up Relationships in Seattle Biotech, Pushes TB Drug Discovery”
Alnylam Gets $20M From Takeda
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said today it has earned a $20 million milestone payment from Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical as part of the collaboration formed between the companies in May. The money is for transferring documents, materials, and know-how to Takeda for developing RNA interference-based drugs. Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) has already received a $100 million upfront payment from … Continue reading “Alnylam Gets $20M From Takeda”
Vical Pandemic Flu Vaccine May Be Licensed to AnGes
Vical, a San Diego biotech company, said today it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to license its pandemic flu vaccine candidates in Japan to AnGes. Osaka, Japan-based AnGes will conduct due diligence on the program, and the companies plan to negotiate terms of a license, Vical said. The news is an “incremental positive” … Continue reading “Vical Pandemic Flu Vaccine May Be Licensed to AnGes”
MPM Capital, World’s Biggest Healthcare VC Fund, Balances Startups With Stocks
MPM Capital has grown into such a colossal healthcare venture fund, it makes people who follow the industry (like me) wonder whether it can stay true to its roots. The fund, with $2.5 billion under management, has a tradition of making seed-stage bets in startup biotech companies, including winners like Cambridge, MA-based Idenix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDIX]]). … Continue reading “MPM Capital, World’s Biggest Healthcare VC Fund, Balances Startups With Stocks”
OVP, Enterprise Partners See Big Opportunity in $5,000 Human Genome Sequencing
It’s getting cheaper by the day to sequence the entire string of 6 billion chemical units of DNA that make up an individual human being. Yesterday, Complete Genomics of Mountain View, CA unveiled plans for what amounts to a democratization of genomics. It will offer a service to sequence full human genomes for just $5,000, … Continue reading “OVP, Enterprise Partners See Big Opportunity in $5,000 Human Genome Sequencing”
Cooley Godward Snaps Up Heller Ehrman Refugees in Seattle
Cooley Godward Kronish, a national law firm, is opening an office in Seattle five years after it left the region in the wake of the dot-com bust. The new Cooley office will have four partners it has picked up after Heller Ehrman recently closed its doors, and will be led by corporate partner John Robertson, … Continue reading “Cooley Godward Snaps Up Heller Ehrman Refugees in Seattle”
Ariad Persuades Court to Allow Immediate Appeal of Ruling in Favor of Amgen
Ariad Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, said today that the U.S. District Court in Delaware has allowed an immediate appeal of a ruling that said Amgen’s arthritis drug Enbrel isn’t infringing on Ariad’s patents. A ruling on the appeal is expected to take 12 to 18 months, said Ariad CEO Harvey Berger, in a … Continue reading “Ariad Persuades Court to Allow Immediate Appeal of Ruling in Favor of Amgen”
ISB, Complete Genomics Form Partnership To Sequence Multiple Human Genomes
The Institute for Systems Biology and Complete Genomics, a Mountain View, CA-based maker of DNA sequencing technology, have formed a partnership to sequence the genomes of 100 people in 2009 and another 2,000 in 2010. Complete Genomics, founded in 2006, said in a separate release that it will be the first company to sequence complete … Continue reading “ISB, Complete Genomics Form Partnership To Sequence Multiple Human Genomes”
CombinatoRx Reckoning Arrives: Stock Crashes on Failed Arthritis Trial
Judgment day was harsh for CombinatoRx. The Cambridge, MA-based company reported this morning that its experimental arthritis drug, Synavive, failed in a mid-stage clinical trial for patients with osteoarthritis of the knees. The company’s stock crashed 72 percent. The drug didn’t show a statistically significant improvement over a placebo when 279 patients were asked about … Continue reading “CombinatoRx Reckoning Arrives: Stock Crashes on Failed Arthritis Trial”
Dendreon Stock Booms As Provenge Shows Promise in Pivotal Trial
Dendreon’s stock rocketed up 33 percent today on good news for its Provenge treatment for prostate cancer. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today that an independent board of trial monitors reported that patients on Provenge have a 20 percent lower risk of death than those on a placebo in an ongoing trial of … Continue reading “Dendreon Stock Booms As Provenge Shows Promise in Pivotal Trial”
Amylin Resurrects Obesity Drug, in New Combination with Diabetes Drug Symlin
Leptin was hailed as a magic bullet for obesity based on rat studies in the 1990s, and then it failed miserably when Amgen took it into clinical trials. Now Amylin Pharmaceuticals thinks it has found a way to bring leptin back to life as a weight-loss drug, as part of a new combination with Symlin, … Continue reading “Amylin Resurrects Obesity Drug, in New Combination with Diabetes Drug Symlin”
Isis Subsidiary Receives Grants, Contracts Worth $8.4 Million
Isis Pharmaceuticals said today that its diagnostic subsidiary, Ibis Biosciences, was awarded federal grants and contracts worth as much as $8.4 million. The Carlsbad, CA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) said its subsidiary got the grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Justice, and other agencies. The company is being asked to … Continue reading “Isis Subsidiary Receives Grants, Contracts Worth $8.4 Million”
Acucela Cuts Staff, Shifting Focus to Development of Eye Disease Drugs
Acucela’s good news wasn’t so good for everybody. Less than a month after it struck a lucrative new partnership with Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical to co-develop drugs for eye diseases, the Bothell, WA-based biotech company has cut almost a third of its staff. Acucela cut loose “fewer than 10 employees” from its payroll, out of a … Continue reading “Acucela Cuts Staff, Shifting Focus to Development of Eye Disease Drugs”
Cell Therapeutics Applies for FDA Approval of Zevalin as First-Line Therapy
Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said today it has applied to the FDA for expanded usage of Zevalin. The drug is currently approved for relapsed forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the new application, if approved, would allow sale for patients getting first-line treatment. Results from a 414-patient clinical trial of Zevalin in first-line patients showed it … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Applies for FDA Approval of Zevalin as First-Line Therapy”
ZymoGenetics “Sleeper” Wakes Up, Leroy Hood Unveils New Company, CMC Icos Expands, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Quote of the week in Seattle life sciences goes to Xconomist Clay Siegall: “For biotechnology, it sometimes feels as if we are always in a financial crisis,” he says. While the world faced the possibility of economic catastrophe, the headlines from Seattle biotech suggest it wasn’t all that unusual of a week, as companies continued … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics “Sleeper” Wakes Up, Leroy Hood Unveils New Company, CMC Icos Expands, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Alnylam Hires Chief Scientist, Jack Schmidt, To Help Build RNAi Pipeline
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has been getting by for years without a full-time chief scientific officer, but no more. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of drugs based on RNA interference (RNAi) technology said today it has hired Jack Schmidt, a former vice president at French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis and a member of the global discovery leadership team there, to … Continue reading “Alnylam Hires Chief Scientist, Jack Schmidt, To Help Build RNAi Pipeline”
Scripps, IAVI to Establish $30 Million AIDS Vaccine Research Center
The Scripps Research Institute, the La Jolla, CA-based nonprofit research center, said today it will establish, along with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the world’s first research center devoted to studying neutralizing antibodies against HIV. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative will invest $30 million over five years in the center at Scripps, to house teams … Continue reading “Scripps, IAVI to Establish $30 Million AIDS Vaccine Research Center”
Torrey Pines Therapeutics Permitted to Begin Phase III Trial of Migraine Drug
Torrey Pines Therapeutics said today that the FDA has agreed to let it conduct a final-stage clinical trial of tezempanel for acute migraine headaches. The pivotal trial will examine tezempanel at a 40 milligram and a lower dose, while also monitoring patients for any heart irregularities known as QT prolongation. The timing of the trial … Continue reading “Torrey Pines Therapeutics Permitted to Begin Phase III Trial of Migraine Drug”