The $165 million bet that Sarepta Therapeutics placed on the gene therapy programs of Myonexus Therapeutics is starting to pay off with more early but encouraging clinical data from the deal’s most advanced program—a potential treatment for a type of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Currently no available treatments exist for any of the many subtypes of … Continue reading “Sarepta Eyes Key Test for Gene Therapy in Rare Muscular Dystrophy”
Author: Sarah de Crescenzo
Sarah is Xconomy's San Diego-based editor. Prior to joining the team in 2018, she wrote about startups, tech and finance at the San Diego Business Journal. Her decade of full-time news experience includes coverage of subjects including campaign finance, crime and courts as a reporter and editor at outlets throughout California, including the Orange County Register.
She earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature at UC San Diego, where she wrote for the student newspaper and played collegiate lacrosse. In 2019, she earned an MBA at UC Irvine.
Atlas Venture Raises $400M Fund to Seed Another New Set of Biotechs
Another venture capital firm that backs biotechs has raised a multimillion-dollar fund—money the firm, Cambridge, MA-based Atlas Venture, says it will use to continue creating and funding companies that are creating new medicines. Atlas revealed Friday that it closed its 12th fund after raising $400 million, a total that pushes the amount the company has … Continue reading “Atlas Venture Raises $400M Fund to Seed Another New Set of Biotechs”
Accent, AstraZeneca Ink Cancer Drug Deal to Block RNA-Modifying Proteins
AstraZeneca is looking to bolster its cancer R&D portfolio with therapies that target RNA-modifying enzymes and other proteins involved in cancer. On Thursday the Cambridge, UK-based pharma giant announced it would pay Boston-area biotech Accent Therapeutics $55 million up front to gain access to its drug discovery know-how in RNA-modifying protein biology. The biology of … Continue reading “Accent, AstraZeneca Ink Cancer Drug Deal to Block RNA-Modifying Proteins”
NodThera Adds $55M to Advance Drugs to Better Regulate Inflammation
Our immune systems are designed to monitor for signs of foreign molecules, and among the first responses to such signals of potential danger are the formation of structures called inflammasomes. But the innate immune system’s natural inflammatory reaction, a protective mechanism meant to tackle any impending infection or injury, may also cause damaging inflammation in … Continue reading “NodThera Adds $55M to Advance Drugs to Better Regulate Inflammation”
Cytovia Therapeutics Adds OliX’s Wei Li as Chief Scientific Officer
Cytovia Therapeutics appointed Wei Li as acting chief scientific officer. Li was most recently chief development officer at Korean biotech OliX Pharmaceuticals. Her prior experience includes more than a decade at cancer drug developer Boston Biomedical, where she led development of the company’s lead drug candidate. New York-based Cytovia is developing cancer immunotherapies based on … Continue reading “Cytovia Therapeutics Adds OliX’s Wei Li as Chief Scientific Officer”
Samumed Taps Pfizer’s Michael White as Its Chief Scientific Officer
Samumed added Michael White to its leadership team as its chief scientific officer. He was most recently CSO for tumor cell biology at the Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) oncology R&D group. White’s prior experience includes more than 20 years at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where his roles included professor of cell biology, associate director … Continue reading “Samumed Taps Pfizer’s Michael White as Its Chief Scientific Officer”
Forma Therapeutics Eyes IPO to Advance Sickle Cell, Prostate Cancer Drugs
Forma Therapeutics has developed a pipeline of small molecules aimed at rare blood disorders and cancers, but it aims to advance two—investigational treatments for sickle cell disease and for advanced prostate cancer—and find partners for the rest of them. Now the Watertown, MA-based company is considering tapping the public markets to add enough funds to … Continue reading “Forma Therapeutics Eyes IPO to Advance Sickle Cell, Prostate Cancer Drugs”
Bio Roundup: ASCO Opens, Merck Takes On COVID, Evofem’s Approval & More
A year ago about 40,000 people gathered in Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Today a virtual version of the ASCO conference, the cancer field’s largest, kicks off, with oncologists and others tuning in from throughout the country and around the world to check out the latest in cancer … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: ASCO Opens, Merck Takes On COVID, Evofem’s Approval & More”
Variant Emerges With $16M to Find “Outlier Humans” to Reveal New Drugs
Human DNA holds secrets that, once uncovered, have led scientists to develop a number of treatments for disease. A slew of biopharmas and biotechs—not to mention national health systems—have hoovered up genetic data from millions of people in hopes of leveraging the information contained within to drive their R&D. Variant Bio, which debuted Thursday with … Continue reading “Variant Emerges With $16M to Find “Outlier Humans” to Reveal New Drugs”
Flagship Pioneering Taps Chouraqui as CEO-Partner, CEO of Cellarity
Flagship Pioneering has created a dual role as CEO-partner of the firm and CEO of Cellarity, one of its spinouts, and named Fabrice Chouraqui to the position. Chouraqui was most recently president of the US pharmaceuticals business for Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]), a role from which he stepped down last August. Previously he held other leadership … Continue reading “Flagship Pioneering Taps Chouraqui as CEO-Partner, CEO of Cellarity”
NGM Bio Names Castlight’s Nolan Mangini as Its Chief Financial Officer
NGM Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NGM]]) added Siobhan Nolan Mangini to its C-suite as chief financial officer. Nolan Mangini, formerly president and CFO of Castlight Health (NYSE: [[ticker:CSLT]]), starts the new role at South San Francisco-based NGM on July 13. Prior to Castlight, Nolan Mangini’s experience includes time as a management consultant at Bain & Company and … Continue reading “NGM Bio Names Castlight’s Nolan Mangini as Its Chief Financial Officer”
Applied Therapeutics Taps Chuck Silberstein as Chief Financial Officer
Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:APLT]]) appointed Charles “Chuck” Silberstein as its chief financial officer and head of business development. He succeeds CFO Mark Vignola, who joined Applied as CFO in April 2019 and is now moving on “to pursue new business opportunities.” Silberstein was most recently senior vice president of corporate business development at Allergan, whose … Continue reading “Applied Therapeutics Taps Chuck Silberstein as Chief Financial Officer”
AbCellera Raises $105M to Advance Antibody Discovery Operations
Most of the best-selling drugs worldwide today are antibodies, and in the three decades-plus since the first such drug was approved, makers of such treatments have begun endeavoring to design drugs to tackle ever more difficult classes of therapeutic targets. Vancouver, BC-based AbCellera, which launched in 2012 based on work by CEO Carl Hansen (pictured), … Continue reading “AbCellera Raises $105M to Advance Antibody Discovery Operations”
Merck Outlines COVID-19 Ambitions With Buyout Deal, Collaborations
Merck exited the holiday weekend with some fireworks of its own, announcing three major programs on Tuesday all related to investments in finding ways to treat and prevent COVID-19. The Kenilworth, NJ-based pharma giant said it had inked an agreement to acquire Austrian vaccine developer Themis, which has a COVID-19 candidate in preclinical development; develop … Continue reading “Merck Outlines COVID-19 Ambitions With Buyout Deal, Collaborations”
Insitro Adds $143M to Fuel Machine Learning-Driven Drug Development
A stem cell biologist, a gene editing expert, and a data engineer walk into a room…and that’s just a few of the people Daphne Koller has recruited in the past two years to Insitro. The South San Francisco-based startup has grand plans to reevaluate and, potentially, reinvent the drug discovery and development process using the … Continue reading “Insitro Adds $143M to Fuel Machine Learning-Driven Drug Development”
Viacyte Adds $27M to Move Ahead Trio of Stem Cell Diabetes Treatments
Privately held biotech ViaCyte has banked $27 million, the majority an installment of cash from a tranched $80 million Series D financing round it closed in late 2018. The company says the money will go to further develop the three diabetes treatment programs it has underway, including enough prep work to enable it to bring … Continue reading “Viacyte Adds $27M to Move Ahead Trio of Stem Cell Diabetes Treatments”
FDA Approves Evofem’s “On-Demand” Non-Hormonal Birth Control Gel
While treatments for many health conditions have undergone reinvention in the past two decades, birth control options haven’t changed much. On Friday, San Diego-based Evofem Biosciences said it received FDA approval for a new kind of contraceptive: a non-hormonal vaginal gel intended for use directly before intercourse. The drug, a combination of lactic acid, citric … Continue reading “FDA Approves Evofem’s “On-Demand” Non-Hormonal Birth Control Gel”
AMAG Pharma Sells Off Women’s Health Product in Planned Divestment
AMAG Pharmaceuticals wants out of the women’s health business—and now it’s halfway there. On Thursday the Waltham, MA-based biotech said it had found a buyer for prasterone (Intrarosa), a steroid designed to treat pain during intercourse associated with menopause, one of two commercialized drugs it has been shopping around. The buyer of the AMAG Pharma … Continue reading “AMAG Pharma Sells Off Women’s Health Product in Planned Divestment”
Vividion Gets $135M in Collaboration With Roche on Protein Degradation
Biotechs are increasingly looking to leverage a mechanism cells use to get rid of unwanted proteins to drug targets previously considered out of reach. Roche ponied up $135 million upfront this week to work with Vividion Therapeutics in search of small molecules that use that “protein degradation” process to do just that. The drug discovery … Continue reading “Vividion Gets $135M in Collaboration With Roche on Protein Degradation”
With $30M, Octant Launches Synthetic Bio Search for Multi-Target Drugs
Octant, a new drug discovery company, launched Wednesday with millions in backing from tech investors to push ahead plans to leverage advances in science and in tech—including genomics, synthetic biology, and big data computation—to map out the relationships between chemicals, drug receptors, and diseases. On Wednesday the Emeryville, CA-based startup announced it raised $30 million … Continue reading “With $30M, Octant Launches Synthetic Bio Search for Multi-Target Drugs”
Oligomerix Appoints Ex-Pfizer Exec Erhardt as Chief Medical Officer
Oligomerix this week added William Erhardt to its executive team as chief medical officer. Erhardt was most recently senior vice president, head of clinical development & operations at Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]). New York-based Oligomerix, which is headquartered at the Ullmann Research Center for Health Sciences within the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is developing small … Continue reading “Oligomerix Appoints Ex-Pfizer Exec Erhardt as Chief Medical Officer”
Mirati Names Synthorx’s Joseph Leveque as New Chief Medical Officer
Mirati Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRTX]]) this week appointed Joseph Leveque as its new chief medical officer. Leveque most recently served as CMO at San Diego’s Synthorx, which was recently acquired by Sanofi. Prior he served in the same role at ARMO Biosciences, which was acquired by Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]) in 2018. Previous experience includes positions … Continue reading “Mirati Names Synthorx’s Joseph Leveque as New Chief Medical Officer”
Amplyx Adds Cash from Pfizer, Adage as Funding Round Tops $90M
Amplyx Pharmaceuticals has completed enrollment in one mid-stage trial of its lead drug candidate, a new kind of antifungal treatment, and has finished treating the first patients in two more such studies. Now the San Diego-based company has added $53 million to a round of funding it first closed in 2017, money that it plans … Continue reading “Amplyx Adds Cash from Pfizer, Adage as Funding Round Tops $90M”
Ardelyx Adds Tolmar’s Rodriguez as Its First Chief Commercial Officer
Ardelyx (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARDX]]) has added Susan Rodriguez to its C-suite as the company’s first chief commercial officer. Rodriguez was most recently president of the branded division of Tolmar, a merged entity created from Tolmar Pharmaceuticals and its sister companies. She was the founding CEO of Tolmar Pharma. Before Tolmar Rodriguez held various roles at Abbott … Continue reading “Ardelyx Adds Tolmar’s Rodriguez as Its First Chief Commercial Officer”
Akcea Therapeutics Taps Michael Price as Its Chief Financial Officer
Akcea Therapeutics on Monday said it appointed Michael Price as its new chief financial officer. He takes over the role from former CFO Mike MacLean, who joined the Boston-based rare disease drug developer shortly after its initial public offering in 2017. Price was most recently CFO at another rare disease drug developer, Novelion Therapeutics, which … Continue reading “Akcea Therapeutics Taps Michael Price as Its Chief Financial Officer”
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Wins Early FDA Nod for GI Cancer Treatment
Some patients with a deadly type of tumor that forms in the gastrointestinal tract don’t respond to existing targeted therapies. On Friday the FDA approved Deciphera Pharmaceuticals drug ripretinib (Qinlock), a new treatment intended for patients with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who have failed at least three previous treatments. Deciphera (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DCPH]]) said the … Continue reading “Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Wins Early FDA Nod for GI Cancer Treatment”
Bio Roundup: FDA Dings BMS, Genfit’s Fall, Alexion’s Activist & More
This was a disappointing week for at least two major drug makers. French firm Genfit reported a trial failure in an intensely competitive indication, and New York-based Bristol Myers Squibb encountered a delay when the FDA declined to review its experimental multiple myeloma treatment. Genfit (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GNFT]]) was developing a treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: FDA Dings BMS, Genfit’s Fall, Alexion’s Activist & More”
Boehringer Ingelheim Acquires Northern Biologics’ Preclinical Pipeline
Two preclinical programs developed by Canadian biotech Northern Biologics have been acquired by privately held German company Boehringer Ingelheim, which is looking to bolster its cancer immunology portfolio. The assets acquired from Northern Biologics in the deal, announced Thursday, are designed to target two aspects of what’s known as the tumor microenvironment: stroma, or connective … Continue reading “Boehringer Ingelheim Acquires Northern Biologics’ Preclinical Pipeline”
Artax Biopharma Names Joseph Lobacki as New Chief Executive Officer
Artax Biopharma has appointed Joseph Lobacki as its new chief executive officer. Lobacki’s prior experience includes roles at Sanofi Genzyme, Medivation, Verastem (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VSTM]]), and Micromet, which was later acquired by Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]). He succeeds company co-founder Damia Tormo, who has served as Artax’s CEO since its 2013 founding. The company says Tormo will … Continue reading “Artax Biopharma Names Joseph Lobacki as New Chief Executive Officer”
Gossamer Announces Resignation of Chief Medical Officer Jakob Dupont
Gossamer Bio’s chief medical officer, Jakob Dupont, is leaving the company this week. Dupont is resigning to “pursue oncology opportunities” closer to his family in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company reported Tuesday. Dupont’s resignation takes effect Thursday, according to a regulatory filing. Gossamer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOSS]]) said he will advise the San Diego-based company … Continue reading “Gossamer Announces Resignation of Chief Medical Officer Jakob Dupont”
QurAlis Hauls In $42M to Move New ALS Therapies Into Human Testing
Few drugs exist that treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disease that kills the nerve cells that allow patients to initiate and control muscle movement. QurAlis, a Cambridge, MA-based startup, has an ambitious plan to develop a number of “precision” therapies for the disease based on forms of the condition identified by genetic mutation or … Continue reading “QurAlis Hauls In $42M to Move New ALS Therapies Into Human Testing”
Genfit Contender in Heated NASH Drug Race Fails in Phase 3 Study
Genfit, once considered among the frontrunners in the biotech race to commercialize a treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), has come up short. The French company said Monday that its investigational treatment, elafibranor, did not meet the main goal of a late-stage trial evaluating its ability to resolve the fatty liver disease without worsening related scarring. … Continue reading “Genfit Contender in Heated NASH Drug Race Fails in Phase 3 Study”
AMAG Pharma Cuts 140 Jobs Amid Restructuring, COVID-19 Disruptions
Disruption caused by the pandemic has intensified a round of planned layoffs at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, new CEO Scott Myers said Monday morning on his first earnings call with the company. The Waltham, MA-based firm said it would cut 140 positions, or about 30 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan announced in … Continue reading “AMAG Pharma Cuts 140 Jobs Amid Restructuring, COVID-19 Disruptions”
Dyno Debuts With Plan, Partnerships for Better Gene Therapy Vectors
Gene therapies deliver healthy genetic material to patients’ cells to replace a mutated, disease-causing variant. Dyno Therapeutics aims to create better delivery vehicles for those genes by using machine-learning tools to engineer new types of harmless viruses that are more effective and simpler to manufacture. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech emerged from stealth Monday having signed … Continue reading “Dyno Debuts With Plan, Partnerships for Better Gene Therapy Vectors”
Trovagene Rebrands as Cardiff Oncology, Promotes Longtime Exec to CEO
Trovagene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TROV]]), which started out as a diagnostics company, has renamed itself Cardiff Oncology to better reflect its focus on the cancer drug it is advancing in three clinical trials. In 2017 the San Diego area-based biotech made the first step in its transformation into a drug development-focused organization, licensing rights to an investigational … Continue reading “Trovagene Rebrands as Cardiff Oncology, Promotes Longtime Exec to CEO”
Akcea Adds Vertex’s Carla Poulson as Chief Human Resources Officer
Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AKCA]]) appointed Carla Poulson as chief human resources officer. Poulson was most recently vice president, senior human resources business partner at Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]). Her prior experience includes roles at grocery retail group Ahold, Pepsi Bottling Group, and ExxonMobil (NYSE: [[ticker:XOM]]). Boston-based Akcea, a spinoff of Carlsbad, CA-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Akcea Adds Vertex’s Carla Poulson as Chief Human Resources Officer”
FogPharma Appoints Tony Gibney as Chief Financial, Business Officer
FogPharma on Thursday named Tony Gibney to the roles of chief financial officer and chief business officer. Gibney, who was an investment banker before transitioning into biotech, was most recently CBO at Achillion Pharmaceuticals, where he led the process that concluded in Achillion’s sale to Alexion, a deal that closed in January. Previously he held … Continue reading “FogPharma Appoints Tony Gibney as Chief Financial, Business Officer”
PTC Therapeutics to Acquire Censa Pharma for Mid-Stage Rare Disease Drug
PTC Therapeutics has reached an agreement to acquire Censa Pharmaceuticals and its lead asset, an experimental metabolic disorder therapy that is now being prepared for a pivotal study. The deal, announced after the market close Wednesday, will bring South Plainfield, NJ-based PTC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTCT]]) another compound for its pipeline of rare disease drugs. Want more … Continue reading “PTC Therapeutics to Acquire Censa Pharma for Mid-Stage Rare Disease Drug”
AstraZeneca Diabetes Drug Gets FDA OK for Reducing Heart Health Risks
An AstraZeneca diabetes drug that brought in more than $1.5 billion in sales last year has won an FDA nod expanding its use to adults with systolic heart failure, a condition in which the heart struggles to pump with enough force to push enough blood into circulation. The drug, the once-daily pill dapagliflozin (Farxiga), was … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Diabetes Drug Gets FDA OK for Reducing Heart Health Risks”
Kura Narrows Pipeline After Strategic Review Prompted by COVID-19
Kura Oncology is discontinuing development of one of its three clinical-stage cancer drug candidates amid pandemic-related impacts to its clinical trial plans. The decision to end work on the drug, KO-947, comes after San Diego-based Kura (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KURA]]) was successful in lifting a partial clinical hold placed on a Phase 1 trial of the drug … Continue reading “Kura Narrows Pipeline After Strategic Review Prompted by COVID-19”
Stemline Slated for Acquisition by Menarini in Deal Worth Up to $677M
Stemline Therapeutics, whose drug for a rare, aggressive type of acute leukemia was approved by the FDA about 18 months ago, has signed an acquisition deal with Italian biopharma Menarini Group. Stemline (NASDAQ: [[ticker:STML]]), a New York-based company, developed the first FDA-approved drug for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, or BPDCN. The drug, tagraxofusp (Elzonris) … Continue reading “Stemline Slated for Acquisition by Menarini in Deal Worth Up to $677M”
FDA Authorizes “Emergency” Use of Gilead’s Remdesivir for Severe COVID-19
Regulators on Friday afternoon granted emergency authorization for the Gilead Sciences drug remdesivir as a treatment for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infections. The decision makes the antiviral drug, which is delivered via intravenous infusion, the second drug to receive authorization under the FDA’s emergency guidelines for use against the novel coronavirus. The first was … Continue reading “FDA Authorizes “Emergency” Use of Gilead’s Remdesivir for Severe COVID-19″
Bio Roundup: Remdesivir Data, Erasca’s $200M, a New FDA Nod & More
Remdesivir, the investigational Gilead Sciences antiviral drug, looks more likely than ever to become the first treatment authorized by the FDA to treat patients with COVID-19. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Anthony Fauci praised the drug after preliminary data released this week from a federally funded trial involving more than 1,000 … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Remdesivir Data, Erasca’s $200M, a New FDA Nod & More”
Adicet Aims to Advance CAR-T Therapies in Reverse Merger with resTORbio
Adicet Bio, a privately held preclinical biotech looking to move ahead its “off-the-shelf” CAR-T cell therapies, has struck a deal with struggling resTORbio to use its Nasdaq listing as a backdoor to the public markets. The companies on Wednesday announced an agreement to combine in a type of transaction sometimes referred to as a “reverse … Continue reading “Adicet Aims to Advance CAR-T Therapies in Reverse Merger with resTORbio”
AMAG Pharma Appoints Rainier’s Myers to Succeed CEO William Heiden
AMAG Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMAG]]) on Tuesday announced Scott Myers has been appointed its new CEO. Myers was most recently CEO of bladder cancer drug developer Rainier Therapeutics. Previously he served as CEO of Cascadian Therapeutics, which was acquired by Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) in 2018. He also spent time as CEO of medical device company … Continue reading “AMAG Pharma Appoints Rainier’s Myers to Succeed CEO William Heiden”
Aurinia Taps Cerecor’s Miller to Succeed Retiring Chief Financial Officer
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AUPH]]) announced that Joe Miller would become its new chief financial officer, succeeding Dennis Bourgeault, who is retiring after more than 20 years as its CFO. Miller was most recently CFO and corporate secretary at Cerecor (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CERC]]). His prior experience includes roles at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, which merged with Mallinckrodt (NYSE: [[ticker:MNK]]) in … Continue reading “Aurinia Taps Cerecor’s Miller to Succeed Retiring Chief Financial Officer”
At Rome Therapeutics, Kapeller Aims to Turn “Junk” Into New Drugs
A new biotech, Rome Therapeutics, launched Monday with $50 million and a plan to develop novel drugs based on new insights into repeats in the non-coding stretches of the human genome. Rome’s debut pulls back the curtain on what Rosana Kapeller, the company’s co-founder and CEO, has been up to since she left Nimbus Therapeutics … Continue reading “At Rome Therapeutics, Kapeller Aims to Turn “Junk” Into New Drugs”
Mirum Appoints Global Blood’s Radovich as Its Chief Operating Officer
Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MIRM]]) has added Peter Radovich to its C-suite as its chief operating officer. Radovich was most recently executive vice president, operations for South San Francisco-based Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GBT]]). Foster City, CA-based Mirum, which launched in 2018 after licensing its lead compound from Shire, is developing liver disease drugs. The biotech … Continue reading “Mirum Appoints Global Blood’s Radovich as Its Chief Operating Officer”
Neurocrine Gets FDA Nod for Once-Daily “Add-On” Parkinson’s Pill
Many patients with Parkinson’s disease take a combination medication called levodopa/carbidopa to control their symptoms, but over time, experience “off” episodes in which the tremor, slowed movement, and difficulty walking that characterize the disorder occur. Now the FDA has approved a Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NBIX]]) drug intended to be taken along with levodopa/carbidopa to extend … Continue reading “Neurocrine Gets FDA Nod for Once-Daily “Add-On” Parkinson’s Pill”
Erasca Lands $200M Mega-Round to Move Cancer Programs to the Clinic
Serial biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Lim has raised a whopping $200 million to advance multiple candidates at his latest cancer drug development venture, Erasca, into human testing. Lim (pictured) sold his previous company, Ignyta, to Roche for $1.7 billion. On Monday Erasca—a portmanteau of “erase” and “cancer”—announced it had completed a Series B financing round jointly … Continue reading “Erasca Lands $200M Mega-Round to Move Cancer Programs to the Clinic”