BioSpace News Archive

Business

Senate Narrowly Confirms Xavier Becerra as HHS Secretary

The U.S. Senate confirmed Xavier Becerra as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in a 50-49 vote.

March 19, 2021
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3 min read
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Mark Terry
Drug Development

Clinical Catch-Up: March 15-19

It was a relatively quiet week in terms of clinical trial news, but there were some significant releases. Here’s a look.

March 19, 2021
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6 min read
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Mark Terry
Deals

Three Biopharma Companies Debut on the Nasdaq, Raise Combined $356 Million in IPOs

It’s been another strong week of biopharma companies making their debut on a stock exchange. Over the past 48 hours, three companies, Finch Therapeutics, Connect Biopharma and Gain Therapeutics, all made their debut on the Nasdaq.

March 19, 2021
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2 min read
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Alex Keown
Drug Development

Idera’s Melanoma Candidate Hits Snag in Phase III Trial

A Phase III trial from Idera Pharmaceuticals did not reach the primary endpoint of ORR in patients with anti-PD-1 refractory advanced melanoma treated with a combination regimen comprising ipilimumab and the company’s investigational agent tilsotolimod.

March 19, 2021
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3 min read
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Brandon May
Business

Fujifilm Set to Build Massive $2 Billion CDMO in North Carolina

The investment made to build this end-to-end cell culture biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization facility clocked in at approximately $2 billion.

March 19, 2021
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3 min read
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Brandon May
FDA

After Head-to-Head Study with Sanofi Drug, FDA Approves Janssen’s Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Drug Ponvory

This morning, Janssen announced Ponvory has been greenlit as the only oral disease-modifying therapy studied against an established oral comparator for this indication.

March 19, 2021
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2 min read
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Alex Keown
Drug Development

Rokote Lab’s COVID-19 Nasal Vaccine on Financing Fence Before Phase I Trials

A COVID-19 nasal spray vaccine developed by Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd., is preparing for Phase I trials in Finland…if it can win funding.

March 19, 2021
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4 min read
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Gail Dutton
Policy

Feds Charge Co-Founders of Shuttered uBiome with Fraud, Money Laundering

Two years after uBiome announced it was filing for bankruptcy and closing its doors, the company’s co-founders and former co-chief executive officers have been indicted for fraud and money laundering.

March 19, 2021
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3 min read
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Alex Keown
Deals

How Amgen Acquired Five Prime for $1.9 Billion, Beating Out a Dozen Others

On March 4, 2021, Amgen announced that they had acquired Five Prime Therapeutics for $38 per share in cash, which is an equity value of about $1.9 billion.

March 19, 2021
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3 min read
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Mark Terry
Biotech Bay

New Animal Model of Alzheimer’s Could Open the Door to New Therapies

A new nonhuman primate Alzheimer’s disease model developed by researchers from University of California, Davis and elsewhere could open the door to getting better therapies into human testing.

March 19, 2021
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2 min read
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Mark Zipkin