AstraZeneca is acquiring Icosavax, which has technology well-suited for multivalent vaccines. Icosavax's pipeline includes a Phase 3-ready program that protects against two pathogens that cause severe respiratory infections in older adults.
Avalyn Pharma aims to improve treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with inhalable versions of two older oral drugs and it’s now headed for mid-stage testing backed by a Series C financing. Other recent biotech industry financings raised money for research in cancer, immunology, and rare genetic diseases.
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Novartis is acquiring Chinook Therapeutics in a $3.2 billion deal that brings two late-stage drug candidates for a rare kidney disorder. The Novartis drug pipeline already has a molecule in late-stage development for the same kidney disease, which could raise questions from antitrust regulators.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum is acquiring CTI Biopharma in a $1.7 billion deal centered on the biotech’s commercialized drug for the blood cancer myelofibrosis. Sobi says the drug, Vonjo, complements one of its own assets approved for a different blood disorder.
The serious adverse event reported in the early-stage study resolved quickly, but Chinook Therapeutics said it is suspected to be related to its experimental primary hyperoxaluria therapy. Meanwhile, Human Immunology Biosciences is looking ahead to Phase 3 after its rare kidney disease drug posted positive mid-stage data.
The second patient who died in the Phase 1 test of Alpine Immune Sciences cancer drug, davoceticept, reportedly suffered the same cardiovascular complication as the first patient. The biotech company is stopping enrollment in two clinical tests of the drug and assessing all participants in the studies.
Bristol Myers Squibb’s drug R&D includes targeted protein degradation, an approach that can require proteins that don’t normally interact to find a way to stick together. BMS is turning to startup A-Alpha Bio to discover “molecular glues” that can accomplish the task.
Organ donation has long been a matter of demand outstripping supply, but Aurion Biotech aims to improve the supply part of the equation with a cell therapy. Aurion’s technology turns a single donated cornea into treatments for up to 100 patients and the startup now has $120 million for clinical trials.
Affini-T Therapeutics is developing new cell therapies for cancer that could overcome limitations of the first generation of cell therapies. The initial genomic cancer targets of the startup are mutations of KRAS and p53, both of which have proven difficult to drug.
The FDA placed a partial clinical hold on a Phase 1 study testing experimental Alpine Immune Sciences cancer drug davoceticept in combination with Merck cancer immunotherapy Keytruda. The partial hold does not affect a separate study testing the Alpine drug as a monotherapy.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Takeda Pharmaceutical is partnering with startup Immusoft in a research alliance aiming to develop B cell therapies that cross the blood-brain barrier to treat rare neurometabolic disorders. Depending on the progress of the research, Takeda could pay its new partner more than $900 million.
Xealth, which was spun out of Providence, recently raised $24 million in a series B round. Advocate Aurora Enterprises led the round, bringing its health system backers to 14.
A-Alpha Bio’s technology analyzes millions of protein-protein interactions simultaneously, a capability that speeds up drug discovery research. Biotech industry partners are already using the technology and now with $20 million in Series A funding, the startup plans to build machine-learning capabilities to crunch the data produced by all of those protein interactions.
Modulus Therapeutics recently emerged from stealth with technology from various disciplines and seed funding that the startup is using to develop better cell therapies. Natural killer cells directed against breast cancer is Modulus’s initial focus, but the startup says its approach can apply to multiple types of immune cells and multiple types of cancer.
The FDA approved an Impel NeuroPharma migraine treatment, a nasal spray intended to bring pain relief more quickly than drugs administered in other ways. It marks the first approval for the Seattle company, which has developed a proprietary nasal delivery technology.
