Doing deals in a time of coronavirus: Biotech CEO Bill Haney says ‘you focus on the things that make a difference’

March 19, 2020 09:15 AM EDTUpdated 10:08 AM

Doing deals in a time of coronavirus: Biotech CEO Bill Haney says 'you focus on the things that make a difference'

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Bill Haney counts his blessings where he finds them these days.

As CEO of two biotechs — Skyhawk and Dragonfly — he’s had a front row seat to watch the “dramatic” impact the pandemic can have on operations. But he’s quick to offer thanks that no one in his two companies — or their families — have yet to be infected.

Yet.

“We know this challenge is coming for people we care about, and we’re concerned about that,” says Haney.

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 83,000+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

BiTE® Platform and the Evolution Toward Off-The-Shelf Immuno-Oncology Approaches

Peter Kufer

Vice President & Innovator of BiTE® Technology, Amgen

Despite rapid advances in the field of immuno-oncology that have transformed the cancer treatment landscape, many cancer patients are still left behind.1,2 Not every person has access to innovative therapies designed specifically to treat his or her disease. Many currently available immuno-oncology-based approaches and chemotherapies have brought long-term benefits to some patients — but many patients still need other therapeutic options.3

President Donald Trump (left) and Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed (Alex Brandon, AP Images)

June 3, 2020 02:40 PM EDTUpdated 13 hours ago

Coronavirus

UPDATED: White House names finalists for Operation Warp Speed — with 5 expected names and one notable omission

Jason Mast

Associate Editor

A month after word first broke of the Trump Administration’s plan to rapidly accelerate the development and production of a Covid-19 vaccine, the White House has selected the five vaccine candidates they consider most likely to succeed, The New York Times reported.

Most of the names in the plan, known as Operation Warp Speed, will come as little surprise to those who have watched the last four months of vaccine developments: Moderna, which was the first vaccine to reach humans and is now the furthest along of any US effort; J&J, which has not gone into trials but received around $500 million in funding from BARDA earlier this year; the joint AstraZeneca-Oxford venture which was granted $1.2 billion from BARDA two weeks ago; Pfizer, which has been working with the mRNA biotech BioNTech; and Merck, which just entered the race and expects to put their two vaccine candidates into humans later this year.

June 3, 2020 08:57 AM EDT

R&D

Is a powerhouse Merck team preparing to leap past Roche — and leave Gilead and Bristol Myers behind — in the race to TIGIT domination?

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Roche caused quite a stir at ASCO with its first look at some positive — but not so impressive — data for their combination of Tecentriq with their anti-TIGIT drug tiragolumab. But some analysts believe that Merck is positioned to make a bid — soon — for the lead in the race to a second-wave combo immuno-oncology approach with its own ambitious early-stage program tied to a dominant Keytruda.

Premium subscription required

Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.

ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Process Development Scientist, Compound Management

Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Salt Lake City, UT

view job offer post your job now

June 4, 2020 06:59 AM EDTUpdated 09:24 AM

Coronavirus

Covid-19 roundup: Moderna readies to enter PhIII in July, AstraZeneca not far behind; EU ready to negotiate vaccine access with $2.7B fund

Amber Tong

Editor

Jason Mast

Associate Editor

Moderna may soon add another first to the Covid-19 vaccine race.

In March, the mRNA biotech was the first company to put a Covid-19 vaccine into humans. Next month, they may become the first company to put their vaccine into the large, late-stage trials that are needed to prove whether the vaccine is effective.

In an interview with JAMA editor Howard Bauchner, NIAID chief Anthony Fauci said that a 30,000-person, Phase III trial for Moderna’s vaccine could start in July. The news comes a week after Moderna began a Phase II study that will enroll several hundred people.

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 83,000+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

June 4, 2020 06:34 AM EDT

Deals

José Baselga finds promise in new class of RNA-modifying cancer targets, locking in 3 preclinical programs with $55M

Amber Tong

Editor

Having dived early into some of the RNA breakthroughs of the last decades — betting on Moderna’s mRNA tech and teaming up with Silence on the siRNA front — AstraZeneca is jumping into a new arena: going after proteins that modify RNA.

Their partner of choice is Accent Therapeutics, which is receiving $55 million in upfront payment to steer a selected preclinical program through to the end of Phase I. After AstraZeneca takes over, the Lexington, MA-based startup has the option to co-develop and co-commercialize in the US — and collect up to $1.1 billion in milestones in the long run. The deal also covers two other potential drug candidates.

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 83,000+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

Joseph Kim, Inovio CEO (Andrew Harnik, AP Images)

June 4, 2020 04:52 PM EDT

Coronavirus

Caught in a standoff with its contract manufacturer over Covid-19 vaccine, Inovio files suit in an attempt to break free while rivals race ahead

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Inovio was one of the first vaccine developers to snag attention for a jab that their execs said promised to end the Covid-19 pandemic. Using their own unique DNA tech, CEO Joseph Kim said it took just 3 hours to work it out.

But while rivals are racing to the finish line with ambitious plans to make vast quantities of their vaccines with billions of dollars of deals, Inovio is still stuck at the starting line on manufacturing.

June 4, 2020 12:30 PM EDT

Deals

Bristol-Myers is cleaning up the post-Celgene merger pipeline, and they’re sweeping out an experimental checkpoint in the process

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Back during the lead up to the $74 billion buyout of Celgene, the big biotech’s leadership did a little housecleaning with a major pact it had forged with Jounce. Out went the $2.6 billion deal and a collaboration on ICOS and PD-1.

Celgene, though, also added a $530 million deal — $50 million up front — to get the worldwide rights to JTX-8064, a drug that targets the LILRB2 receptor on macrophages.

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 83,000+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Senior Drug Discovery Scientist

New York, NY

view job offer post your job now

June 3, 2020 11:12 AM EDTUpdated 01:01 PM

R&D

Pharma

Coronavirus

UPDATED: Estimating a US price tag of $5K per course, remdesivir is set to make billions for Gilead, says key analyst

Natalie Grover

Reporter

Data on remdesivir — the first drug shown to benefit Covid-19 patients in a randomized, controlled trial setting — may be murky, but its maker Gilead could reap billions from the sales of the failed Ebola therapy, according to an estimate by a prominent Wall Street analyst. However, the forecast, which is based on a $5,000-per-course US price tag, triggered the ire of one top drug price expert.

Credit: AP Images

June 3, 2020 07:39 AM EDT

Coronavirus

Covid-19 roundup: BARDA supports Operation Warp Speed with big $628M contract to service America's vaccine production needs

Natalie Grover

Reporter

Another BARDA contract designed to service America’s Covid-19 vaccine needs has been deployed.

The White House-led initiative designed to bankroll development to bring a vaccine to the American public by this fall — Operation Warp Speed — has via BARDA handed a meaty contract to the maker of an FDA-licensed anthrax vaccine to open up its manufacturing apparatus to shore up production of Covid-19 vaccines.

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 83,000+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.