ORIC Pharmaceuticals followed in the footsteps of the other biotechs that have managed to go public this month, selling more shares than it expected for a haul of $120 million. The South San Francisco, CA-based company—whose name is an acronym for “overcoming resistance in cancer”—priced its IPO late Thursday, offering 7.5 million shares at $16 … Continue reading “ORIC Pharma Gets $120M in IPO to Advance Drug-Resistant Cancer Therapies”
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.
Nitrome Bio Bags $38M to Prep Parkinson’s Program for the Clinic
Nitrome Biosciences is looking to leverage its research into a class of enzymes involved in the aggregation of a protein characteristic of Parkinson’s disease into a treatment for that and other age-related diseases. This week the San Francisco-based startup raised $38 million, a Series A financing that it anticipates will allow it to ready its … Continue reading “Nitrome Bio Bags $38M to Prep Parkinson’s Program for the Clinic”
Life Science a VC Bright Spot in Q1, But Startups May Soon Struggle
Even as the novel coronavirus has derailed daily life and business operations, the life sciences sector continues to see companies make public debuts and ink both financing and partnership deals. In venture capital, US deal activity in the first quarter tallied 2,300 financings totaling $34.2 billion, according to the latest report by the National Venture … Continue reading “Life Science a VC Bright Spot in Q1, But Startups May Soon Struggle”
Biogen Pushes Finalized Filing for Alzheimer’s Drug to Third Quarter
Biogen last year said it would ask the FDA to review its potential Alzheimer’s disease treatment, aducanamab, sometime in “early” 2020. The submission is being made under a rolling review, in which sections of an application are filed as they are completed rather than all at once. Now the Cambridge, MA-based company says the regulatory … Continue reading “Biogen Pushes Finalized Filing for Alzheimer’s Drug to Third Quarter”
Synthorx’s Shawver Joins Silverback Therapeutics as New Top Exec
Veteran biotech executive Laura Shawver is taking over as CEO at Silverback Therapeutics, joining the cancer drug developer as it is poised to move its first compound into the clinic. The Wednesday announcement comes three months after French firm Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) closed its $2.5 billion acquisition of La Jolla, CA-based Synthorx, the biotech Shawver … Continue reading “Synthorx’s Shawver Joins Silverback Therapeutics as New Top Exec”
BARDA Director Rick Bright Moves to NIH to Head COVID-19 Testing R&D
Rick Bright, who joined the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in 2010, has suddenly left his role as director of the federal agency, which is playing a key role in advancing medical countermeasures against COVID-19. BARDA formed in 2006; Bright (pictured) succeeded founding director Robin Robinson to the position in late 2016. The … Continue reading “BARDA Director Rick Bright Moves to NIH to Head COVID-19 Testing R&D”
Ohana Bio Adds Ramiro Castro-Santamaria as Chief Medical Officer
Ohana Biosciences announced it appointed Ramiro Castro-Santamaria, a urologist and family medicine physician, as its chief medical officer. Castro-Santamaria was most recently vice president of clinical sciences and head of rheumatology at GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]), where he spent 14 years serving in various clinical development and R&D roles. His prior experience includes roles at Boehringer … Continue reading “Ohana Bio Adds Ramiro Castro-Santamaria as Chief Medical Officer”
Sangamo Names Amgen’s D. Mark McClung as Chief Business Officer
Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGMO]]) has appointed D. Mark McClung as executive vice president and chief business officer. Previously McClung was general manager of global oncology commercial at Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), which he joined from Onyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen for about $10 billion in 2013). For two decades prior, he held roles at GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: … Continue reading “Sangamo Names Amgen’s D. Mark McClung as Chief Business Officer”
Unlearn Adds $12M for “Digital Twins” That Accelerate Clinical Trials
Speeding up and bringing down the cost of clinical trials would be a huge boon to pharma companies and patients alike. San Francisco-based startup Unlearn.AI says it has developed proprietary technology that may help accomplish just that. On Monday the company announced it raised $12 million from investors who believe it stands out among the … Continue reading “Unlearn Adds $12M for “Digital Twins” That Accelerate Clinical Trials”
Seattle Genetics Gets Early FDA Nod for Breast Cancer Combo Drug
Seattle Genetics on Friday received its third FDA approval, a regulatory nod for a breast cancer drug for patients with an especially aggressive form of the disease, four months ahead of schedule. The Bothell, WA-based biotech earned the earlier-than-expected decision for its oral drug tucatinib (Tukysa), when taken in combination with the chemotherapies trastuzumab and … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Gets Early FDA Nod for Breast Cancer Combo Drug”
COVID-19 Vax Efforts Aim to Balance Speed, Efficacy in Race to Market
If Peter Marks had a magic wand to perfect the sophisticated process that takes a new vaccine from idea to reality, the US could have a way to prevent some people from COVID-19 infection in nine months to one year. In the real world, the journey to a vaccine OK’d under emergency guidelines is more … Continue reading “COVID-19 Vax Efforts Aim to Balance Speed, Efficacy in Race to Market”
Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Billions, COVID-19 Vaccines, Moma Debuts & More
The public markets are moving erratically, but Alnylam Pharmaceuticals showed this week that selling equity isn’t the only way for biotech companies to raise cash. Late last year Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) began exploring potential royalty deals for inclisiran, a drug that uses RNA interference to lower cholesterol. Alnylam had sold the drug’s development and commercialization … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Billions, COVID-19 Vaccines, Moma Debuts & More”
RDMD Lands $14M to Expand Reach of Rare Disease Research Platform
Thousands of diseases occur so infrequently that few data are readily available about the patients who have them. RDMD, which launched in 2018 to gather such data to spur more drug research for those patients, has raised $14 million to add 20 more diseases to its platform. The San Francisco-based startup operates a two-sided network. … Continue reading “RDMD Lands $14M to Expand Reach of Rare Disease Research Platform”
UroGen Makes Chief Commercial & Chief Development Officer Promotions
UroGen Pharma (NASDAQ:[[ticker:URGN]]) has added two of its senior employees to the C-suite. The Princeton, NJ-based company, which Wednesday received FDA approval of its lead drug, promoted its senior vice president of commercial, Jeff Bova, to chief commercial officer, and its senior vice president of clinical development, Elyse Seltzer, to chief development officer. Bova and … Continue reading “UroGen Makes Chief Commercial & Chief Development Officer Promotions”
UroGen Gets FDA Nod for Low-Grade Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer Drug
The FDA on Wednesday approved a drug developed by UroGen Pharma to treat low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer, which rarely spreads but often recurs and can cause kidney damage in some patients. Urothelial cancer is the most common type of bladder cancer. Upper tract urothelial cancer (UCTC), however, affects the lining of the urinary system, … Continue reading “UroGen Gets FDA Nod for Low-Grade Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer Drug”
Cerevance Raises $45M to Advance Brain Disease Research & Development
Cerevance, a biotech focused on developing new treatments for brain diseases, has added $45 million to its coffers in a Series B financing round from investors including the venture capital arm of Google parent company Alphabet and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates. On Tuesday the Boston-based company said the money would allow it to continue identifying … Continue reading “Cerevance Raises $45M to Advance Brain Disease Research & Development”
Arcturus Poised to Move Liver Drug, COVID-19 Vaccine Into Clinic
Messenger RNA drug developer Arcturus Therapeutics is ready to kick off its first-ever human trials this year, beginning clinical evaluation of its lead drug candidate and testing a vaccine designed to target the novel coronavirus. The San Diego biotech on Monday announced it had received the FDA’s OK to enter into the clinic with ARCT-810, … Continue reading “Arcturus Poised to Move Liver Drug, COVID-19 Vaccine Into Clinic”
Japan’s Kyowa Kirin Pays MEI Pharma $100M in Blood Cancer Drug Pact
MEI Pharma is expanding a 2018 deal with Japanese biopharma Kyowa Kirin giving the company the development and commercialization rights to one of its investigational blood cancer drugs in that country. Kyowa has agreed to pay $100 million up front for rights to MEI-401 outside of the United States, and to jointly develop and—if approved—promote … Continue reading “Japan’s Kyowa Kirin Pays MEI Pharma $100M in Blood Cancer Drug Pact”
More Trust, Collaboration in Pharma Needed to Reap Benefits of Data Science
Limited data isn’t an issue when it comes to how to best use computational tools to better prevent disease and treat patients—but how to more efficiently analyze existing information is. Industry veterans with experience in life sciences and data science floated their ideas about how the pharmaceutical industry could better plug in to the “big … Continue reading “More Trust, Collaboration in Pharma Needed to Reap Benefits of Data Science”
Aravive Promotes Chief Scientific Officer Gail McIntyre to CEO
Aravive (NASDAQ: ARAV) on Thursday said Gail McIntyre, the company’s chief scientific officer, has been promoted to CEO. McIntyre, who joined the company since 2016, succeeds Rekha Hemrajani, who has resigned, along with three board directors. The company called the leadership transition a “natural evolution” following its company’s reverse merger in June 2018 with Versartis, … Continue reading “Aravive Promotes Chief Scientific Officer Gail McIntyre to CEO”
Bolt Bio Adds Mayo Clinic’s Edith Perez as Chief Medical Officer
Bolt Biotherapeutics has added longtime Mayo Clinic professor Edith Perez to its C-suite as chief medical officer. Perez, who has taught at Mayo for two decades and heads its Breast Cancer Translational Genomics program, will maintain a clinical affiliation. She previously served another stint in industry, spending three years as head of US medical affairs for Genentech’s … Continue reading “Bolt Bio Adds Mayo Clinic’s Edith Perez as Chief Medical Officer”
Investors Bet on Next-Gen Telehealth as COVID-19 Fuels Adoption
Talking to a healthcare provider from the safety of one’s own home make more sense than ever today. Tyto Care offers a way to do so, plus a device that allows consumers to perform exams and transmit video, images, and sounds to their provider. This week the telehealth company doubled its outside investment to fuel … Continue reading “Investors Bet on Next-Gen Telehealth as COVID-19 Fuels Adoption”
Gilead Heightens Inflammatory Disease Focus With Second Genome Microbiome Deal
Gilead Sciences has signed an agreement with South San Francisco biotech Second Genome to use its microbiome drug development expertise to advance the compounds it is evaluating in inflammatory disease and to identify new ones. “There is a growing body of evidence that the microbiome plays an important role in disease progression and treatment response … Continue reading “Gilead Heightens Inflammatory Disease Focus With Second Genome Microbiome Deal”
Organovo Future Unclear After Shareholders Reject Tarveda Merger
A planned merger between struggling 3-D “bioprinter” Organovo and Tarveda Therapeutics, a privately held cancer drug developer looking to join the public markets through a reverse merger, has fallen through. Organovo (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONVO]]) management announced in mid-December that its board of directors and Tarveda’s had approved the companies’ combination. But Organovo shareholders, who under the … Continue reading “Organovo Future Unclear After Shareholders Reject Tarveda Merger”
Keros Therapeutics Raises $96M in Upsized IPO to Fuel Clinical Tests
The financial markets may remain volatile but Keros Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KROS]]) managed to raise more money in its public market debut than it had initially planned. Late Tuesday, the Lexington, MA-based company offered 6 million shares for $16 apiece, the high end of its projected price range. Keros had previously planned to offer 5 million … Continue reading “Keros Therapeutics Raises $96M in Upsized IPO to Fuel Clinical Tests”
Inovio Begins Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Tests in Healthy Volunteers
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, one of the biotechs developing a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, has received the FDA’s OK to start testing its candidate in healthy volunteers. The Plymouth Meeting, PA-based company, which also conducts research in San Diego, plans to enroll as many as 40 adults across two trial locations. Inovio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INO]]) said Monday it … Continue reading “Inovio Begins Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Tests in Healthy Volunteers”
Polyneuron Adds Polyphor’s Debra Barker as Chief Medical Officer
Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss biotech that is developing a new class of biodegradable glycopolymers for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, has appointed Debra Barker as its chief medical officer. Most recently Barker was chief medical and development officer at Polyphor, which she left for personal reasons at the end of 2018. Her previous experience includes … Continue reading “Polyneuron Adds Polyphor’s Debra Barker as Chief Medical Officer”
Morphic Appoints ArQule’s Schegerin Chief Financial, Operating Officer
Morphic Therapeutic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MORF]]) has named Marc Schegerin as its chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Schegerin was most recently CFO at cancer drug developer ArQule, which Merck (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]) agreed to acquire in December for $2.7 billion. Schegerin joins another recent addition to Morphic’s C suite, Peter Linde, who joined the company in … Continue reading “Morphic Appoints ArQule’s Schegerin Chief Financial, Operating Officer”
Millendo May Restructure After Prader-Willi Drug Fails Pivotal Test
Millendo Therapeutics is considering a corporate reorganization after its lead drug, an investigational treatment for a rare genetic condition characterized by unrelenting hunger, did not perform better than a placebo in a pivotal trial. The Ann Arbor, MI-based company said Monday that the drug, livoletide, did not meet the goal of the Phase 2b study … Continue reading “Millendo May Restructure After Prader-Willi Drug Fails Pivotal Test”
Dynacure Adds $55M As RNA-Targeted Muscle Disorder Drug Enters Clinic
Last month French biotech Dynacure dosed the first patient in an early-stage trial of its lead drug candidate, a treatment for a group of rare genetic muscle disorders. Now the company, which also has an office in Philadelphia, has landed a €50 million ($55 million) Series C financing round to move that investigational antisense medicine, … Continue reading “Dynacure Adds $55M As RNA-Targeted Muscle Disorder Drug Enters Clinic”
Fate Inks $100M Deal With Janssen for Stem Cell-Derived Cancer Therapies
Fate Therapeutics has signed an agreement with Janssen Biotech to develop new cancer cell therapies that are derived from stem cells and landed $100 million up front as part of the global collaboration deal. The San Diego-based biotech has built a pipeline of experimental cell therapies that use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to create … Continue reading “Fate Inks $100M Deal With Janssen for Stem Cell-Derived Cancer Therapies”
Bio Roundup: Biotech Billions, COVID-19 R&D, Zolgensma’s Path & More
The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the global economy, but three life sciences venture capital firms this week announced new funds totaling nearly $3 billion. ARCH Venture Partners led the pack, adding two funds totaling $1.46 billion to its war chest. Flagship Pioneering bagged $1.1 billion, and venBio Partners reeled in $394 million. Flagship CEO Noubar … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Biotech Billions, COVID-19 R&D, Zolgensma’s Path & More”
VenBio Partners Bags $394M to Back More Medicine-Making Biotechs
Investors worried about a recession like venBio Partners’ risk-mitigated approach to venture capital investing. That approach has led new limited partners to join earlier backers in putting nearly $400 million into the San Francisco-based firm’s new fund. VenBio announced Friday it closed its third fund, raising $394 million which it plans to invest using the … Continue reading “VenBio Partners Bags $394M to Back More Medicine-Making Biotechs”
Locana Adds Assembly Biosciences’ Mackison as Chief Business Officer
Locana has appointed Micah Mackison as its chief business officer to lead business development and corporate communications. Mackison most recently led business development efforts at Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ASMB]]) as senior vice president, corporate development and strategy. Previously he led healthcare transactions at Jabil as senior director, corporate investment, and served as head of corporate … Continue reading “Locana Adds Assembly Biosciences’ Mackison as Chief Business Officer”
Flagship Adds $1.1B for New Meds, More AI, & “Health Security”
Flagship Pioneering founder and CEO Noubar Afeyan didn’t know a global pandemic was in the cards for 2020 when he and his team laid out three new thematic areas of focus for the company last fall. One proved eerily prescient: The notion of “health security,” or the development of new products and therapies to treat … Continue reading “Flagship Adds $1.1B for New Meds, More AI, & “Health Security””
Celularity to Test Natural Killer Cell Therapy for Cancer Against COVID
Celularity, a New Jersey company developing experimental cancer treatments derived from human placentas, has received the FDA’s blessing to kick off human testing of its lead immunotherapy for cases of COVID-19 disease. The trial, designed to evaluate Celularity drug candidate CYNK-001, will enroll about 100 patients with COVID-19 infection causing pneumonia. Those enrolled will receive … Continue reading “Celularity to Test Natural Killer Cell Therapy for Cancer Against COVID”
Iteos Therapeutics Adds $125M to Advance Next-Gen Immunotherapies
Immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors have helped change the way a number of cancers are treated by blocking a tumor cell’s ability to hide from the immune system. Some patients don’t respond, however, or develop resistance to these drugs. Iteos Therapeutics has raised $125 million to advance new cancer treatments it is developing to target two … Continue reading “Iteos Therapeutics Adds $125M to Advance Next-Gen Immunotherapies”
Aspen Neuro Adds $70M to Test Parkinson’s Cell Therapy in the Clinic
Parkinson’s disease patients experience progressive breakdown of their neurons, cells essential to movement and mental function. Aspen Neuroscience, a biotech working to develop a therapy that would reprogram those patients’ own living cells in ways that would allow the cells to reconstruct their damaged neural networks, has raised $70 million in a Series A financing … Continue reading “Aspen Neuro Adds $70M to Test Parkinson’s Cell Therapy in the Clinic”
Aptinyx Moves Ahead With PTSD Therapy Study, Pauses 3 Other Trials
Neurological drug developer Aptinyx has stopped enrollment in three of the four mid-stage trials it is conducting due to impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The Evanston, IL-based company disclosed the decision Monday in its report of fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results. Aptinyx (NASDAQ: [[ticker:APTX]]), which is advancing three clinical-stage drug candidates that … Continue reading “Aptinyx Moves Ahead With PTSD Therapy Study, Pauses 3 Other Trials”
Viracta Adds Nordic Nanovector’s Lisa Rojkjaer as Chief Medical Officer
Viracta Therapeutics has appointed Lisa Rojkjaer as its chief medical officer to oversee the clinical-stage precision oncology company’s efforts to advance treatments targeting virus-associated cancers. Rojkjaer, who will start with the company on May 1, most recently served in the same role at Nordic Nanovector, a precision oncology company in Oslo, Norway. Previously she held … Continue reading “Viracta Adds Nordic Nanovector’s Lisa Rojkjaer as Chief Medical Officer”
Biohaven’s Acute Migraine Drug Bests Placebo in Prevention Study
Biohaven Pharmaceutical’s FDA-approved pill to treat migraine attacks is showing that it can prevent such headaches too. According to preliminary results from a late-stage trial released Monday, the Biohaven drug beat a placebo at reducing the average number of days per month patients with chronic and episodic migraine experienced the debilitating condition. The FDA OK’d … Continue reading “Biohaven’s Acute Migraine Drug Bests Placebo in Prevention Study”
San Diego Biotech Entrepreneurs, Innovation Lead to “Maturing” Ecosystem
The local biotech ecosystem is growing up thanks to its innovative science and collaborative ecosystem, advantages that put it nearly on par with the nation’s top life science regions, according to industry veterans. San Diego has long been considered a second-tier primary biopharma hub in terms of number of companies and venture capital raised, falling … Continue reading “San Diego Biotech Entrepreneurs, Innovation Lead to “Maturing” Ecosystem”
Equillium Continues Graft-Versus-Host Disease Trial, Pauses 2 Others
Equillium has halted two clinical trials of its lead drug candidate out of an “abundance of caution” related to the coronavirus outbreak but continues to enroll in a third, which is evaluating the antibody as a treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease. The decision made by the San Diego biotech, revealed in its annual report filed … Continue reading “Equillium Continues Graft-Versus-Host Disease Trial, Pauses 2 Others”
Fusion Pharmaceuticals Taps James O’Leary as Chief Medical Officer
Fusion Pharmaceuticals has appointed James O’Leary as its chief medical officer. O’Leary’s experience includes roles at ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IMGN]]), Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDRA]]), Array Biopharma, and Deciphera (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DCPH]]), Takeda (NYSE: [[ticker:TAK]]), Bayer, and Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]). Most recently O’Leary was a global project team leader for a late-stage asset directing global strategy and regulatory … Continue reading “Fusion Pharmaceuticals Taps James O’Leary as Chief Medical Officer”
Akcea Therapeutics Promotes Damien McDevitt to CEO
Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AKCA]]) has appointed Damien McDevitt as its chief executive officer. McDevitt had been serving as the Boston company’s interim CEO since September 2019, when CEO Paula Soteropoulos, president Sarah Boyce, and chief operating officer Jeff Goldberg left in a sudden management shakeup. Akcea is advancing a group of experimental rare disease drugs discovered by … Continue reading “Akcea Therapeutics Promotes Damien McDevitt to CEO”
Forge Inks Roche Deal For Antibiotic Aimed at Drug-Resistant Infections
Forge Therapeutics has reached a deal with Roche to support development of an antibiotic for drug-resistant bacterial lung infections. The partnership announced this week gives the Swiss pharmaceutical giant the option to license the antibiotic from San Diego-based Forge. The preclinical biotech will retain control of the program, FG-LpxC LUNG, until Roche decides whether to … Continue reading “Forge Inks Roche Deal For Antibiotic Aimed at Drug-Resistant Infections”
With $80M, ReCode Looks to Advance RNA Therapies for Lung Diseases
Two companies working on treatments for rare genetic lung diseases have combined efforts and raised $80 million to bring into human testing next year two investigational treatments that use types of RNA to tweak mutated proteins. Dallas company ReCode Therapeutics and Menlo Park, CA-based TranscripTx have merged under the ReCode name and leadership of CEO … Continue reading “With $80M, ReCode Looks to Advance RNA Therapies for Lung Diseases”
Oncology Needs Combo Therapies & More Data Analysis, Says Bio-Europe Spring Panel
Future improvements in cancer care are most likely to stem from combinations therapies and data-driven prevention efforts, as well as breakthrough drugs. That’s the message life sciences experts shared this week during a webcast on the topic of “oncology’s next decade” recorded for the BIO-Europe Spring partnering conference. The event is produced by EBD Group, … Continue reading “Oncology Needs Combo Therapies & More Data Analysis, Says Bio-Europe Spring Panel”
Regenacy Pharma Raises $30M for Nerve Function Restoring Treatments
Regenacy Pharmaceuticals, a biotech formed as part of Celgene’s acquisition of Acetylon Pharmaceuticals in late 2016, has raised $30 million in Series A financing to move its lead program into a Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial this year. The Waltham, MA-based company is developing treatments to address the underlying cause of peripheral neuropathies—a form of nerve … Continue reading “Regenacy Pharma Raises $30M for Nerve Function Restoring Treatments”
Kallyope Gains $112M to Move “Gut-Brain Axis” Programs to the Clinic
Kallyope, one of New York’s best funded biotechs, has secured more than $100 million to move two of its programs into the clinic—including its most advanced, an experimental drug designed to treat obesity. The company was founded in 2015 with $44 million to leverage new learnings about the “gut-brain axis”—pings of communication between our guts … Continue reading “Kallyope Gains $112M to Move “Gut-Brain Axis” Programs to the Clinic”