Tag: biotechnology
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Biotech, Device Maker Partner on Retinal Disease Therapy
7 January 2015. GenSight Biologics, a Paris-based biotechnology company, and Pixium Vision, a developer of vision restoration systems also in Paris, are collaborating with a French vision and hearing foundation to design a therapy for people with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder causing people to lose their vision over time. The project is funded by…
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Novartis Licensing Biotechs’ Gene-Editing Technologies
7 January 2015. Pharmaceutical maker Novartis is licensing technologies from two biotechnology companies that enable the editing of human genomes to cure disease. Financial details of the agreements with Caribou Biosciences Inc. in Berkeley, California and Intellia Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts were not disclosed, but involve equity investments, initial payments and research support, and milestone…
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Genentech, 23andMe to Analyze Parkinson’s Genome Data
6 January 2015. Personal genomics company 23andMe plans to analyze the genomes of 3,000 of its clients to discover new Parkinson’s disease drug targets for biotechnology company Genentech, a division of the pharmaceutical company Roche. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 23andMe, in Mountain View, California, provides genetic ancestry testing services, but also…
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Gilead Acquires Biotech Liver Disease Therapies
6 January 2015. Biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences bought an experimental drug to treat non-alcoholic liver diseases from Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG, a German biotechnology firm. Gilead, in Foster City, California, is expected to pay Phenex up to $470 million for the drug. Under the deal, Gilead acquires Phenex’s work developing a drug that binds to and…
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RNA Therapies Company Gains $450M in Venture Funds
5 January 2015. Moderna Therapeutics, a developer of medications that use genetic material to produce therapeutic proteins in the body, raised $450 million in its third announced venture financing round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company says existing investors AstraZeneca and Alexion Pharmaceuticals joined with new participants Viking Global Investors LP, Invus, RA Capital Management, and…
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Amgen, Kite Pharma Partner on Personal Cancer Immunotherapy
5 January 2014. The biotechnology companies Amgen and Kite Pharma are developing personalized cancer treatments harnessing the immune system in a deal combining Amgen’s targets with Kite Pharma’s cell therapies. The agreement is expected to bring up to $525 million in milestone payments plus sales royalties to each company, as well as an upfront payment…
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Project Aims to Boost Ebola Drug Production
31 December 2014. A research team at University of California in Davis aims to find new ways of boosting production capacity of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp. The 1-year project, led by UC-Davis chemical engineering and materials science professor Karen McDonald, is funded by a $200,000 rapid-response grant from National Science Foundation. The current Ebola…
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Vaccine Combo Produces Ricin, Anthrax Antibodies
29 December 2014. Tests of a vaccine to prevent ricin and anthrax poisoning shows it produces long-lasting antibodies against both toxins, making a single vaccine against both bioterror agents more feasible. Results of a study by biotechnology company Soligenix Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey are reported in the January 2015 issue of the journal Vaccine…
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Early Trial Underway Testing Brain Cancer Drug
24 December 2014. Kinex Pharmaceuticals, a developer of cancer therapies, began an early-stage clinical trial of an experimental treatment for tumors of support cells in the brain. The Buffalo, New York biotechnology company says the first patient received the drug code-named KX2-361 in the trial taking place at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, also in Buffalo,…
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FDA Approves New Influenza Treatment
23 December 2014. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved yesterday a drug to treat influenza infections in adults. The treatment, Rapivab, is a small molecule drug made by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in Durham, North Carolina. BioCryst designs and develops therapies that block enzymes involved in infectious and inflammatory diseases, with a technology that creates synthetic compounds using…