Join Xconomy online this Thursday, June 25 for Xcelerating Life Sciences San Francisco: The AI, Big Data, and R&D Boom forum and networking event to explore the latest technology and business trends in AI and drug development through the lens of some of the Bay Area’s top life science leaders and rising stars. Artificial intelligence, … Continue reading “This Week’s AI & Drug Discovery Conference Xcelerating Life Sciences San Francisco Features insitro, Atomwise, twoXAR, InterVenn, Engine Biosciences & More”
Category: San Francisco
Shattuck Labs Nabs $118M for Cancer Drugs Like Keytruda, But Better
Checkpoint inhibitors do one thing: release the molecular brake that keeps immune cells from recognizing and targeting tumors. This cancer immunotherapy approach has saved countless lives and turned drugs from Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb into blockbuster products. But what if a single drug could block checkpoint proteins while simultaneously sparking an anti-tumor response? That’s … Continue reading “Shattuck Labs Nabs $118M for Cancer Drugs Like Keytruda, But Better”
Bio Roundup: A Royal IPO, Akili Arrives, Orca Bio Surfaces & More
The biggest life sciences deal this week involves a company that doesn’t discover or develop drugs, or even sell them. Yet its mark is found on pharmaceutical products spanning the entire sector. Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RPRX]]) acquires the royalty rights for drugs. Most of those royalties are for products that are already approved, but the … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: A Royal IPO, Akili Arrives, Orca Bio Surfaces & More”
Engrail Therapeutics Launches With $32M to Develop New Neuro Drugs
Typically a new biotech assembles a group of investors that collectively puts in the money a fledgling company requires to develop or acquire potential therapies. Engrail Therapeutics, which emerged from stealth Thursday with $32 million in outside financing, landed its entire Series A funding from a sole source: Nan Fung Life Sciences, a subsidiary of … Continue reading “Engrail Therapeutics Launches With $32M to Develop New Neuro Drugs”
Orca Bio Surfaces With $192M and Recipes for “Custom” Cell Therapies
The cancer cell therapies available today are made by tweaking a patient’s own immune cells to better recognize and fight the disease. Orca Bio is developing what it says is the next generation of cell therapy: custom preparations made without modifying cells or genes. Orca is already testing its technology in humans, though it has … Continue reading “Orca Bio Surfaces With $192M and Recipes for “Custom” Cell Therapies”
Frazier Launches Lassen to Advance Antibodies Against Fibrosis, Cancer
Lassen Therapeutics, a biotech that is developing antibodies as potential treatments for fibrosis, rare diseases, and cancer, debuted Wednesday with $31 million in Series A financing. The San Diego-based company says it will use the money to accelerate its antibody programs, including asking the FDA for the green light to move its lead drug candidate … Continue reading “Frazier Launches Lassen to Advance Antibodies Against Fibrosis, Cancer”
Kronos Bio Appoints Christopher Dinsmore Chief Scientific Officer
Christopher Dinsmore has joined Kronos Bio as its chief scientific officer. He was most recently entrepreneur in residence at venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures. His experience also includes roles at Forma Therapeutics and Merck (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]). Kronos launched nearly a year ago with a $105 million Series A round of financing. The San Mateo, … Continue reading “Kronos Bio Appoints Christopher Dinsmore Chief Scientific Officer”
AstraZeneca Veteran Hasan Jafri Joins Aridis as Chief Medical Officer
Aridis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARDS]]) has appointed Hasan Jafri to serve as its chief medical officer. He succeeds Paul Mendelman, the company’s interim CMO since last October. San Jose, CA-based Aridis said Mendelman will become senior medical advisor to the company. Jafri is joining Aridis from AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]), where he was director of clinical research … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Veteran Hasan Jafri Joins Aridis as Chief Medical Officer”
GSK Expands Synthetic Lethality Scope With $120M Ideaya Bio Alliance
GlaxoSmithKline got its first taste of synthetically lethal cancer therapies via an acquisition. Now it’s trying for a bigger bite of this emerging drug class through a research alliance with Ideaya Biosciences that spans three of the biotech’s programs, all slated to reach clinical trials in the next three years. According to deal terms announced … Continue reading “GSK Expands Synthetic Lethality Scope With $120M Ideaya Bio Alliance”
Exec Search Underway at PacBio After CEO, CFO Announce Plans to Retire
Gene sequencing company Pacific Biosciences of California is seeking two new leaders in the wake of retirement announcements by a pair of longtime top executives. PacBio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]) president and CEO Michael Hunkapiller plans to retire by year’s end, and the company’s chief financial officer, Susan Barnes, is slated to do the same in August. … Continue reading “Exec Search Underway at PacBio After CEO, CFO Announce Plans to Retire”
Pharma Partnering: Perspectives from Xcelerating Life Sciences Panel
At some point, every biotech weighs whether to forge ahead alone or team up with a larger company that has the scientific know-how, clinical trial experience, or the cash to keep a program going. For early-stage developers of cell and gene therapies, these alliances are almost essential. Bruce Levine been on both sides of this … Continue reading “Pharma Partnering: Perspectives from Xcelerating Life Sciences Panel”
Jazz Pharma Gets Quick FDA OK for New Small Cell Lung Cancer Drug
The FDA on Monday approved a new drug for patients with advanced small cell lung cancer, permitting the treatment to be marketed based on less evidence than it traditionally requires in order to speed its path to market. Madrid-based PharmaMar, which developed lurbinectedin (Zepzelca), licensed its US commercialization rights to Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JAZZ]]) last … Continue reading “Jazz Pharma Gets Quick FDA OK for New Small Cell Lung Cancer Drug”
Akili Interactive’s Video Game for ADHD Gets the FDA All Clear
The newest attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment comes with instructions unlike any other therapy: Press “PLAY.” Akili Interactive was awarded FDA clearance on Monday for EndeavorRx, a “digital therapeutic” developed to treat ADHD through a video game experience. The regulatory decision makes the Boston company’s product the first prescription therapy that comes in the … Continue reading “Akili Interactive’s Video Game for ADHD Gets the FDA All Clear”
FDA Reverses Authorization for Use of Antimalarials to Treat COVID-19
The FDA on Monday revoked its emergency authorization permitting use of the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat the novel coronavirus, citing a lack of evidence of their efficacy. In late March the agency authorized the drugs, which President Donald Trump touts often as a potential treatment, for patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 … Continue reading “FDA Reverses Authorization for Use of Antimalarials to Treat COVID-19”
Biotech Roundup: BIO on Racism, AbbVie Antibodies, IPO Surge & More
At the start of 2020 thousands of biotechies anticipated spending the second week of June in San Diego, hobnobbing at the annual conference hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Instead, attendees from 64 countries spanning 28 times zones convened online this week for the first-ever virtual BIO International Convention. There, topics once as unanticipated as the … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: BIO on Racism, AbbVie Antibodies, IPO Surge & More”
Moderna Finalizes Plan, Dose for Phase 3 Test of mRNA COVID Vaccine
Less than a month after reporting preliminary early-stage data for its experimental vaccine for the novel coronavirus, Moderna has finalized the plan for a Phase 3 test. The study, set to begin next month, is targeting enrollment of about 30,000 volunteers, Moderna (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) announced Thursday. Those patients will be randomly assigned to receive either … Continue reading “Moderna Finalizes Plan, Dose for Phase 3 Test of mRNA COVID Vaccine”
Verve Therapeutics Adds $63M to Edit Heart Attack Risk Out of Genes
Verve Therapeutics aims to use gene editing to address heart attacks by targeting the liver, not the heart. And it wants to make its edits inside the patient. The startup’s approach raises a lot of questions. Verve has some answers now, and it has raised $63 million to learn more. The new financing announced Thursday … Continue reading “Verve Therapeutics Adds $63M to Edit Heart Attack Risk Out of Genes”
Ardelyx Taps Correvio’s Justin Renz as Its Chief Financial Officer
Justin Renz has joined Ardelyx (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARDX]]) as chief financial officer. Renz most recently held the same role at Vancouver, BC-based Correvio Pharma, which was acquired last month by the UK company Advanz Pharma for about $76 million. His prior experience includes management roles at Karyopharm Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KPTI]]) and Zalicus (formerly CombinatoRx). Fremont, CA-based … Continue reading “Ardelyx Taps Correvio’s Justin Renz as Its Chief Financial Officer”
Akouos Aims for an IPO to Advance Hearing Loss Gene Therapy to Clinic
Hearing loss can stem from a variety of reasons, but in rare cases it’s caused by genetic defects. Akouos is developing a gene therapy to address these problems and it’s planning an IPO to finance the first tests of its approach in humans. In paperwork filed with regulators late Friday, Boston-based Akouos set a preliminary … Continue reading “Akouos Aims for an IPO to Advance Hearing Loss Gene Therapy to Clinic”
Bio Roundup: Race and Pharma, ASCO Recap, Warp Speed Ahead & More
Race is not a topic that often comes up in pharmaceutical discussions but perhaps it should. Disease doesn’t discriminate by race, but health and economic disparities put some groups at higher risk than others. And yet clinical trials fail to reflect the broad spectrum of patients that drug makers aim to treat. Racial disparities are … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Race and Pharma, ASCO Recap, Warp Speed Ahead & More”
Early Bird Sale Ends Friday, June 5 for Xconomy’s AI & Drug Discovery Online Forum and Networking Conference
The early bird sale for Xcelerating Life Sciences San Francisco: The AI, Big Data, and R&D Boom ends this Friday at 11:59 p.m. PT. Register today to lock in the low $99 rate and secure your spot at the online forum and networking event on June 25. This is your chance to explore how artificial … Continue reading “Early Bird Sale Ends Friday, June 5 for Xconomy’s AI & Drug Discovery Online Forum and Networking Conference”
Pliant Therapeutics Prices IPO, Lands $144M to Test Fibrosis Drugs
Pliant Therapeutics is now a public company, raising $144 million from its IPO, plus more from a separate transaction with partner Novartis. South San Francisco-based Pliant priced its offering of 9 million shares at $16 apiece, which was the high end of its revised price range. When the biotech initially set IPO terms last week, … Continue reading “Pliant Therapeutics Prices IPO, Lands $144M to Test Fibrosis Drugs”
Grail Plants a Seed in RTP, Pledges $100M Investment in New Site
Grail, a clinical-stage company developing cancer tests intended to detect early signs of the disease from a small blood sample, has agreed to invest $100 million in a new outpost planned for Research Triangle Park, NC. The new Grail site will have a laboratory and warehouse space, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday after an agreement … Continue reading “Grail Plants a Seed in RTP, Pledges $100M Investment in New Site”
Chinook, Aduro Merger Plan Sets Up New Kidney Disease-Focused Biotech
Chinook Therapeutics and Aduro Biotech, each pursuing different approaches to the same rare disease, are now converging on a path to combine their operations into a single company focused on developing new treatments for kidney disorders. The merger agreement announced Tuesday will result in a business whose ownership will be split evenly between the shareholders … Continue reading “Chinook, Aduro Merger Plan Sets Up New Kidney Disease-Focused Biotech”
After Inking Bristol Myers Pact, Repare Therapeutics Sets Sights on IPO
It’s been a busy week for Repare Therapeutics. On Tuesday, the cancer drug developer struck up an alliance with Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) that pays $65 million now and as much as $3 billion later, depending on the progress made in coming years. On Friday, Repare filed for an IPO that could bring in … Continue reading “After Inking Bristol Myers Pact, Repare Therapeutics Sets Sights on IPO”
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”
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”
Gilead’s Delaney Jumps to Assembly Bio as Chief Scientific Officer
The addition of Gilead Sciences veterans to the Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ASMB]]) C-suite continues with the hiring of William Delaney as chief scientific officer of virology. Delaney worked at Gilead (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) for more than 20 years, most recently as executive director of biology. At South San Francisco-based Assembly, he will succeed Richard Colonno, who … Continue reading “Gilead’s Delaney Jumps to Assembly Bio as Chief Scientific Officer”
New Webinars: In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Assessment Solutions & Enzyme Fragment Complementation Tech
Xconomy Insight is excited to offer two special webinars to our community this June. Sponsored by Eurofins, registration is free to all. Applying Cell-based In Vitro Assays to Improve In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Assessment Challenges Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Time: 9:00am PDT / 12:00pm EDT Duration: 1 hour Register today In this webinar, we will … Continue reading “New Webinars: In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Assessment Solutions & Enzyme Fragment Complementation Tech”
Gilead Gains Foothold in Solid Tumors With $375M, 10-Year Arcus Bio Pact
With the year’s biggest oncology conference days away, Gilead Sciences is signaling now what its cancer immunotherapy pipeline could look like in the years to come. The drug maker is entering a partnership with Arcus Biosciences that spans the biotech’s four clinical-stage compounds, plus additional programs that may come out of the 10-year alliance. The … Continue reading “Gilead Gains Foothold in Solid Tumors With $375M, 10-Year Arcus Bio Pact”
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”
Generation Bio Leads a Trio of Biotech Companies Aiming for the Nasdaq
COVID-19 has ravaged the economy, and it was expected to quash the IPO market, too. But the biotech sector is defying the pandemic with crossover financings and freshly minted public companies. On Friday, three firms added their names to the list of life science companies preparing to join the public markets. Gene therapy company Generation … Continue reading “Generation Bio Leads a Trio of Biotech Companies Aiming for the Nasdaq”
Bio Roundup: mRNA Vaccine Data, Rise of Rallybio, Roche’s Protein Play & More
As the nation started to reopen this week following two months of closed businesses and stay-at-home orders, public health officials and economists cautioned that society won’t truly return to anything resembling a pre-pandemic normal without a COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) moved one step closer to filling that need with the release of preliminary Phase … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: mRNA Vaccine Data, Rise of Rallybio, Roche’s Protein Play & More”
Applied Molecular Plots IPO to Back Transport of Biologic Drugs to Gut
The human gut hosts a hub of activity spanning the immune system, the nervous system, and more. But drugging this nexus comes with challenges. Applied Molecular Transport is developing biologic drugs that use a cell’s own mechanisms to get a therapy to a target and the biotech is now planning to tap the public markets … Continue reading “Applied Molecular Plots IPO to Back Transport of Biologic Drugs to Gut”
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”
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”
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”
Biotech “Mapmaker” Immunai Launches With $20M to Chart the Immune System
It may seem like an unlikely link but the body’s response to arthritis may hold answers for better cancer drugs, says Luis Voloch, chief technology officer of startup Immunai. Immune cells respond to both conditions, but in different ways. Insights into the response for one disease could inform the treatment of the other, he says. … Continue reading “Biotech “Mapmaker” Immunai Launches With $20M to Chart the Immune System”
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”
Pliant Pushes Forward With IPO Plans to Back Fibrosis Drug Studies
Pliant Therapeutics has a pipeline of experimental fibrosis treatments and a research alliance with Novartis. Now the biotech is preparing an IPO to raise cash to advance its clinical-stage programs. In paperwork filed with securities regulators, Pliant set an $86 million IPO target. That amount is a placeholder figure as the South San Francisco-based biotech … Continue reading “Pliant Pushes Forward With IPO Plans to Back Fibrosis Drug Studies”
Bolt Bio Picks Sunesis’s William Quinn as Chief Financial Officer
Bolt Biotherapeutics has appointed William Quinn to serve as its chief financial officer, the same position he held most recently at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNSS]]). Quinn’s experience also includes roles at Bullet Biotechnology and Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JAZZ]]). Preclinical-stage Bolt Bio is developing a new class of cancer immunotherapies called immune-stimulating antibody conjugates. Last year, … Continue reading “Bolt Bio Picks Sunesis’s William Quinn as Chief Financial Officer”
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”
MyoKardia’s Heart Drug Shines in Phase 3, FDA Filing Planned for 2021
An experimental MyoKardia drug developed to treat an inherited cardiovascular condition that restricts blood flow is showing it can improve on the symptoms of this condition as well as the heart’s ability to function. MyoKardia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MYOK]]) is testing its drug, mavacamten, in patients who have obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a hardening and thickening of … Continue reading “MyoKardia’s Heart Drug Shines in Phase 3, FDA Filing Planned for 2021”
Bio Roundup: Acquisitive Alexion, CRISPR on COVID, C. diff Success & More
Alexion Pharmaceuticals CEO Ludwig Hantson has made no secret that he wants to diversify his company’s drug portfolio and he has shown willingness to open the corporate checkbook to accomplish that goal. Last October, Alexion (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALXN]]) struck a $930 million deal to acquire Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a biotech whose lead drug complements the Boston company’s … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Acquisitive Alexion, CRISPR on COVID, C. diff Success & More”
Kezar Life Sciences Taps Noreen Roth Henig as Chief Medical Officer
Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KZR]]) has appointed Noreen Roth Henig to serve as its chief medical officer, the same role she held most recently at Breath Therapeutics. Breath was acquired by Zambon last year for €140 million up front. Henig’s experience also includes roles at ProQR Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]). South San Francisco-based … Continue reading “Kezar Life Sciences Taps Noreen Roth Henig as Chief Medical Officer”
Ventus Launches With $60M to Shine Light on Innate Immune System Drugs
The innate immune system has become a hot area for drug development, and for good reason. As the body’s first line of defense, its function (or dysfunction) plays a role in many diseases. The problem, says Ventus Therapeutics CEO Marcelo Bigal, is that drug developers have been working in the dark. Scientists don’t know the … Continue reading “Ventus Launches With $60M to Shine Light on Innate Immune System Drugs”
Encouraging Signals for New Cancer Cell Therapy Strategies
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies have shown remarkable efficacy in leukemia and lymphoma patients who relapsed or were refractory to several prior treatments, but many challenges remain in the cancer cell therapy field. Strategies that may improve upon first-generation therapies were presented during the American Association for Cancer Research virtual meeting with encouraging early activity, … Continue reading “Encouraging Signals for New Cancer Cell Therapy Strategies”
Alexion Pharma Boosts Blood Drug Lineup With $1.4B Deal for Portola
Alexion Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy Portola Pharmaceuticals in a $1.4 billion deal that brings it a first-in-class therapy for treating life-threatening bleeding. According to financial terms announced Tuesday, Boston-based Alexion (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALXN]]) will pay $18 for each outstanding share of Portola (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTLA]]). That price is a a nearly 132 percent premium to Monday’s … Continue reading “Alexion Pharma Boosts Blood Drug Lineup With $1.4B Deal for Portola”
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”
BridgeBio’s Pipeline Expansion Continues as Portfolio’s Milestones Approach
BridgeBio Pharma Inc. is poised to achieve its goal of rapidly bringing treatments for genetic diseases and genetically defined cancers to the market with two different products expected to be submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration before the end of 2021—just four years after the company’s first big funding round. Palo Alto, CA-based … Continue reading “BridgeBio’s Pipeline Expansion Continues as Portfolio’s Milestones Approach”