Category: Joint ventures/collaborations
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Biotech, Bayer Partner on Gene-Editing Treatments
21 December 2015. CRISPR Therapeutics and the drug company Bayer AG are forming a joint venture to develop gene-editing therapies for three types of genetic diseases, and later for other human and agricultural applications. The deal calls for Bayer AG, in Leverkusen, Germany, to invest at least $300 million in the joint venture and take…
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Lilly Licensing Biotech’s Drug Injection Technology
21 December 2015. Eli Lilly and Company is licensing a technology from Halozyme Therapeutics that makes it possible to inject biologic drugs under the skin rather than with intravenous infusions. The deal could bring Halozyme Therapeutics, a biotechnology company in San Diego, as much as $825 million. Halozyme develops synthetic enzymes, with a technology platform, called Enhanze…
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Galapagos Licensing Inflammation Drug in $2.1B Deal
17 December 2015. A biotechnology company is licensing its small molecule drug for treating inflammatory disorders to the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences in a deal valued at nearly $2.1 billion. The agreement includes Gilead Sciences taking an ownership stake in Galapagos NV, based in Mechelin, Belgium. The deal involves the small-molecule, or low molecular weight,…
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Synthetic Peptide Protects Neurons Damaged by Parkinson’s
16 December 2015. A study by a start-up biotechnology company and university medical center shows an engineered peptide can protect brain cells in lab mice from damage by toxins like those causing Parkinson’s disease. The findings by a team from Longevity Biotech in Philadelphia and University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha are published in…
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Trial Underway Testing Opioid Dependency Treatments
15 December 2015. A late-stage clinical trial testing weekly and monthly treatments of injected buprenorphine for opioid drug dependence began enrolling patients. The trial is testing the drug code-named CAM2038 developed by the pharmaceutical company Camurus AB in Lund, Sweden, and licensed to Braeburn Pharmaceuticals in Princeton, New Jersey that offers treatments for neurological conditions.…
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Spin-Off Developing Gene Therapies for Blood Disorders
11 December 2015. A new spin-off company from University College London in the U.K. is developing gene therapies to treat hemophilia and related diseases. The company, Freeline Therapeutics, is raising £25 million ($US 38 million) in its first venture funding round. Freeline Therapeutics is founded and commercializing research by UCL hematology professor Amit Nathwani, who…
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High Blood Cancer Response Rates Found for Cell Therapies
8 December 2015. Two clinical trials of personalized immune cells to treat blood-related cancers — acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults — showed high rates of response and remission. Results of the two trials, conducted by University of Pennsylvania medical school, were reported earlier this week at a meeting of American…
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Advocacy Group, Genetics Company Partner on Brain Disorder
7 December 2015. The start-up genetics analysis company Pairnomix is collaborating with KCNQ2 Cure Alliance to better understand mutations leading to KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy, an inherited brain disorder. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the partnership were not disclosed. KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy is a rare condition traced to mutations in the KCNQ2 gene, which produces…
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Challenge Seeks Nutrient Recycling from Livestock Waste
4 December 2015. A public-private consortium seeks techniques for recycling crop nutrients from livestock waste in an open-innovation challenge paying $20,000 in prizes. The competition, sponsored by Environmental Protection Agency and a number of partners in government, academia, not-for-profit organizations, and industry has a deadline of 15 January 2016 for initial submissions. The challenge itself…
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Antibodies Reduce Whooping Cough Severity, Infections
3 December 2015. Two engineered antibodies were shown in tests with lab animals to reduce the severity of whooping cough symptoms and white blood cell counts indicating infection. The team from the protein engineering lab of Jennifer Maynard at University of Texas in Austin and Synthetic Biologics, a biotechnology company in Rockville, Maryland, published its…