Seattle
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AstraZeneca’s Icosavax M&A Deal Helps It Stand Out in Multivalent Vaccines Chase
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.
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Avalyn’s New Twist on Older Lung Disease Drugs Attracts $175M for Clinical Trials
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.
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Novartis Lines Up $3.2B Deal for Kidney Disease Drugs, But FTC Questions Loom
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.
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Sobi Emerges as Savior for CTI Biopharma Cash Crunch With $1.7B M&A Deal
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.
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Chinook Therapeutics Pauses Kidney Disease Drug Trial Following Adverse Event Report
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.
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Alpine stops enrollment in cancer drug study after second patient death this year
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.
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BMS protein degradation drug research turns to a startup to find molecular glues
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.
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Cell therapy biotech Aurion gets $120M to restore vision and revamp organ donor economics
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.
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Cell therapy biotech Affini-T gets $175M; KRAS is lead genomic cancer target
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.
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Trayt Health Seeks to Increase Access to Diagnoses and Treatments
CEO Malekeh Amini explains how Trayt Health can bridge the gap for patients seeking neurological care.
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Alpine Immune Sciences cancer drug trial placed on partial hold after patient death
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.
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How Xealth amassed 14 hospital backers for its digital health platform
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.
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Pharma, Artificial Intelligence, BioPharma
Startup A-Alpha Bio sets out to solve a major protein problem facing big pharma
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.
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Artificial Intelligence, BioPharma
Startup Modulus embraces AI to design better NK cell therapies for cancer
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.
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Impel NeuroPharma’s drug-device combo product nabs FDA nod for migraine
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.