News

/News

Biotech Says It Hurdled A Genetic Barrier, But Shares Gave Up A Breakout

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock flirted with a breakout Friday after the biotech company said it's experimenting with drugs that will "silence" multiple troublesome genes simultaneously. Previously, that was impossible, Chief Executive Christopher Anzalone said late Thursday on CNBC's Mad Money. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) is among a slew of biotech companies using technology called RNA interference to silence genes responsible for [...]

By | 2019-10-21T13:55:08-04:00 October 18th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Biotech Says It Hurdled A Genetic Barrier, But Shares Gave Up A Breakout

Reata CEO on positive trial results for drug to treat Friedreich’s ataxia

Warren Huff, Reata Pharma CEO, joins CNBC's "Power Lunch" team to discuss his company's positive clinical trial results for a drug to treat the neuromuscular disease Friedreich's ataxia.

By | 2019-10-21T13:49:49-04:00 October 18th, 2019|News, video|Comments Off on Reata CEO on positive trial results for drug to treat Friedreich’s ataxia

Eye Drops To Reverse Vision Loss One Step Closer To Market

Eye drops that can reverse poor vision? It may sound like science fiction, but one Israeli company is aiming to bring this product to market. The drops passed their Phase 2b clinical trial earlier this month, meaning they’ve proven to improve farsightedness, the inability to see or read nearby objects, and are highly tolerable. Although [...]

By | 2019-10-21T13:31:43-04:00 October 18th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Eye Drops To Reverse Vision Loss One Step Closer To Market

Arrowhead CEO breaks down drug partnerships with Johnson & Johnson and Amgen

Jim Cramer chats with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals CEO Christopher Anzalone about projects the company is working on to silence genes that cause rare genetic disorders.

By | 2019-10-21T13:38:22-04:00 October 17th, 2019|News, video|Comments Off on Arrowhead CEO breaks down drug partnerships with Johnson & Johnson and Amgen

Pharma’s roller-coaster relationship with RNA therapies

Fortunes can shift precipitously in the drug-discovery world. At the start of the twenty-first century, all eyes were focused on a powerful gene-silencing technology called RNA interference (RNAi), and many companies saw the almost limitless potential of harnessing the tool to manipulate genes implicated in diseases.

By | 2019-10-21T13:47:15-04:00 October 16th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Pharma’s roller-coaster relationship with RNA therapies

RedHill Biopharma contends with Crohn’s

RedHill Biopharma Ltd. announced today the full Week 52 results for all subjects in the Phase 3 randomized, controlled study of RHB-104 in Crohn’s disease (MAP US study) and supportive topline results from the open-label extension Phase 3 study (MAP US2 study).

By | 2019-10-21T13:02:22-04:00 October 11th, 2019|News|Comments Off on RedHill Biopharma contends with Crohn’s

RNA Therapy Improves Vision in Untreatable Genetic Blindness

A phase I/II trial run by the Dutch company ProQR has found that its RNA therapy could significantly improve the vision of people with Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a rare genetic disease for which there is no treatment.

By | 2019-10-21T12:48:46-04:00 October 11th, 2019|News|Comments Off on RNA Therapy Improves Vision in Untreatable Genetic Blindness

AbbVie exits $850M Nrf2 deal with Reata, recouping $330M

After a nine-year run, AbbVie is calling it quits on its Reata Pharmaceuticals partnership. The Big Pharma, which ponied up more than $800 million for the rights to a set of Nrf2 activators for kidney disease and autoimmune disease, is now handing those rights back for $330 million in cash.

By | 2019-10-21T12:47:38-04:00 October 10th, 2019|News|Comments Off on AbbVie exits $850M Nrf2 deal with Reata, recouping $330M

Reata buys drug rights back from AbbVie for $330M before readout

Reata Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it will pay AbbVie $330 million over the next two years to re-acquire most of the ex-U.S. rights for its leading drug candidates.

By | 2019-10-21T12:42:03-04:00 October 10th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Reata buys drug rights back from AbbVie for $330M before readout

Colonoscopy player announces first commercial placements of device

Motus GI, a medical technology company focussing on colonoscopy, has announced the first commercial placements of its Pure-Vu System as part of its initial U.S. market launch targeting early adopter hospitals.

By | 2019-10-21T12:38:57-04:00 October 9th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Colonoscopy player announces first commercial placements of device

Improving How Neurological Drugs are Developed Using Cell-Type-Specific Analysis

Cerevance, a pharmaceutical company focusing on central nervous system diseases, has developed a new process for peering into the gene expression of specific brain cells. Their Nuclear Enriched Transcript Sort sequencing (NETSseq) platform can leverage a technique to specifically sort and isolate specific types of brain cells to more closely study each type. [...]

By | 2019-10-21T12:33:03-04:00 October 9th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Improving How Neurological Drugs are Developed Using Cell-Type-Specific Analysis

AI And Machine Learning Help Unravel The Biology Of Alzheimer’s

Alkahest is a clinical stage company with multiple therapeutic candidates in Phase 2 trials. The company is hoping to develop a treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s but is taking a different path. Alkahest is looking at the plasma proteome and, specifically, how it changes with age.

By | 2019-10-21T12:30:50-04:00 October 8th, 2019|News|Comments Off on AI And Machine Learning Help Unravel The Biology Of Alzheimer’s

‘Smart’ Inhaler Can Make Insulin Delivery Quick and Painless

One of the main barriers to medication adherence among diabetics is the painful, constant administration of insulin using a needle and syringes. Moreover, subcutaneous insulin administration has long been admonished for its slow onset of action. People living with this chronic condition need a convenient and efficient method of administering this crucial hormone. Biopharmaceutical [...]

By | 2019-10-21T11:31:35-04:00 October 4th, 2019|News|Comments Off on ‘Smart’ Inhaler Can Make Insulin Delivery Quick and Painless

Spring resident finds hope in new migraine treatment device

Spring resident Leah Cravens wanted to have a baby. With her husband diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, rendering him infertile, an in vitro fertilization was her only choice. The problem? Chronic migraines have been plaguing Cravens for more than 20 years, the medicine for which would be unsafe during her pregnancy.

By | 2019-10-21T12:12:22-04:00 October 3rd, 2019|News|Comments Off on Spring resident finds hope in new migraine treatment device

Lyme Vaccines Show New Promise, and Face Old Challenges

Jessica Reeder worries about ticks and the diseases they carry. She had Lyme disease, her brother had Lyme disease, and every fall her children come home from school with notes reminding parents to do a nightly tick check. Even in Philadelphia, where Reeder lives, the bloodsuckers lurk in the woods around the playground. Her family [...]

By | 2019-10-14T17:28:34-04:00 October 2nd, 2019|News|Comments Off on Lyme Vaccines Show New Promise, and Face Old Challenges

Marc Schegerin, chief financial officer of ArQule, on its breakout year and its MOSAIC trial

Marc Schegerin, chief financial officer of ArQule, discusses ArQule's breakout year including data showing clinical efficacy of ARQ 531 in CLL and the initiation of its MOSAIC trial

By | 2019-10-14T17:28:46-04:00 October 2nd, 2019|Daily Digest, News|Comments Off on Marc Schegerin, chief financial officer of ArQule, on its breakout year and its MOSAIC trial

Drug company’s Bay Area exodus: All about a new CEO, the right talent — and getting out of founder’s living room

Dance BioPharma has joined the Bay Area exodus, but its story is unlike some of the more high-profile departures.

By | 2019-10-14T17:21:58-04:00 October 2nd, 2019|News|Comments Off on Drug company’s Bay Area exodus: All about a new CEO, the right talent — and getting out of founder’s living room

Could Aiming Insulin at the Liver Be an Answer to Using Less?

Amid the debate about why insulin costs so much lies a second question: if the hormone can be delivered more efficiently, will people with diabetes need less insulin? It’s not just a question that’s come up in the era of the artificial pancreas, as people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) work with technology that [...]

By | 2019-09-26T17:03:27-04:00 September 26th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Could Aiming Insulin at the Liver Be an Answer to Using Less?

Rocket Pharma Q&A: efficacy of gene therapy in Fanconi anaemia

Due to the need for chemotherapy and the risks caused by allogeneic stem cell transplants in Fanconi anaemia patients, Rocket Pharma has developed gene therapy candidate RP-L102, which doesn’t need conditioning and corrects the gene mutation underlying Fanconi. Rocket CEO Guarav Shah explains RP-L102’s mechanism of action, as well as how the company is [...]

By | 2019-09-26T16:57:02-04:00 September 25th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Rocket Pharma Q&A: efficacy of gene therapy in Fanconi anaemia

Overcoming Cancer Drug Resistance with A Bispecific Inhibitor

Drug resistance presents a significant challenge to oncologists. Therapies that were once capable of destroying the tumor are rendered ineffective once one resistant cancer cell begins to multiply. Part of the challenge of developing effective cancer therapies is tackling the multiple pathways by which drug resistance arises. Isaac Israel, CEO of Kitov Pharmaceuticals, and [...]

By | 2019-09-26T16:51:06-04:00 September 25th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Overcoming Cancer Drug Resistance with A Bispecific Inhibitor

Dance Biopharm rebrands to Aerami Therapeutics

Dance Biopharm today said it rebranded as Aerami Therapeutics and will move its headquarters to Durham, N.C. The rebranding comes as the company seeks strategic partners for its Dance 501 inhaled human insulin. The company also hopes the rebranding will help progress into pivotal registration studies and expand to include inhaled therapeutics for endocrinology [...]

By | 2019-09-26T16:42:57-04:00 September 25th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Dance Biopharm rebrands to Aerami Therapeutics

Diabetes relief from an inhaler? Durham company says yes

In the not very distant future, Type 2 diabetes patients may have an option to inhale insulin that acts faster and lasts longer than Lilly’s injected insulin Humalog or its generic, lispro, the current standard treatment. Durham-based Aerami Therapeutics, which changed its name from Dance Biopharm Holdings Inc. on Wednesday, reports that data from its Phase 2 [...]

By | 2019-09-26T16:43:11-04:00 September 25th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Diabetes relief from an inhaler? Durham company says yes

Novel liver-targeted insulin comparable to insulin lispro in type 1 diabetes

In reporting findings from the phase 2b Insulin Liver Effect (ISLE-1) trial, the researchers also found that participants with a high baseline HbA1c assigned to hepatocyte-directed vesicle (HDV) insulin lispro experienced similar HbA1c reductions while using 25% less mealtime insulin with less hypoglycemia. HDV technology is designed to be mixed with any commercially available [...]

By | 2019-10-01T09:24:15-04:00 September 25th, 2019|Daily Digest, News|Comments Off on Novel liver-targeted insulin comparable to insulin lispro in type 1 diabetes

Inner Workings: Lyme disease vaccines face familiar challenges, both societal and scientific

Just over 20 years ago, a Lyme disease vaccine called LYMErix was approved for sale in the United States. Researchers designed the vaccine to prevent the transmission of the tick-borne pathogen Borellia burgdorferi, which spurs a bacterial infection that can cause fever, headaches, and joint pain if left untreated.

By | 2019-09-25T12:46:39-04:00 September 24th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Inner Workings: Lyme disease vaccines face familiar challenges, both societal and scientific

Alcoholic hepatitis drug candidate shows ‘life-saving potential’

Data from a phase 2a clinical trial of DUR-928, an endogenous, small-molecule new chemical entity, for patients with alcoholic hepatitis demonstrated that the treatment led to greater reductions from baseline in bilirubin and MELD and improved Lille scores compared with a historical control group from a University of Louisville alcoholic hepatitis study, according to [...]

By | 2019-09-23T16:44:29-04:00 September 20th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Alcoholic hepatitis drug candidate shows ‘life-saving potential’

A Therapeutic Approach Built on Protein Degradation

Nurix Therapeutics is harnessing the body’s natural process for controlling protein levels to target and degrade proteins that drive cancer and other diseases. Its small molecule therapies control key enzymes responsible for protein breakdown and can be used to modulate the levels of proteins within cells. The company believes it can leverage the approach [...]

By | 2019-09-26T17:00:32-04:00 September 19th, 2019|News|Comments Off on A Therapeutic Approach Built on Protein Degradation

Getting Higher-Quality Hits out of DNA-Encoded Libraries

DNA-encoded libraries are quickly surpassing traditional high throughput screens as industry’s first stop for hit generation. Now, developers are taking the technology up a notch to get more tractable hits in the output. DNA-encoded library (DEL) screens blow conventional high throughput screening techniques out of the water when it comes to library size and [...]

By | 2019-09-13T10:06:06-04:00 September 12th, 2019|News|Comments Off on Getting Higher-Quality Hits out of DNA-Encoded Libraries