Editas founder Katrine Bosley abruptly steps aside from the helm, just ahead of historic CRISPR move

January 22, 2019 09:30 AM ESTUpdated 11:01 AM

Editas founder Katrine Bosley abruptly steps aside from the helm, just ahead of historic CRISPR move

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

For close to 5 years now Katrine Bosley has led Editas Medicine $EDIT through good times and bad, right to the threshold of dosing its first patient in the premier clinical study for its groundbreaking gene-editing tech.

But she’s not taking the next step with the team.

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Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP Images)

September 18, 2020 11:15 AM EDT

People

Coronavirus

A micro-cap with a potentially promising coronavirus drug enlists mask-skeptic congressman for DSMB

Jason Mast

Associate Editor

A small biotech that has talked up a potentially promising but unproven treatment for Covid-19 enlisted an unusual member for its study’s Data and Safety Monitoring Board: a sitting Republican congressman with close ties to the CEO and a history of mask skepticism.

NeuroRx, an Israeli biotech testing a lung inflammation drug in Covid-19 patients, tapped Maryland Rep. Andy Harris for the DSMB, Politico reported. Harris is a medical doctor but not a biostatistician, and he has questioned the CDC about a “cult of masks” in the US. Harris has known NeuroRx CEO Jonathan Javitt since the two worked at Johns Hopkins together over 20 years ago.

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Dan Skovronsky, Eli Lilly CSO

September 16, 2020 07:16 AM EDTUpdated September 17, 12:03 AM

R&D

Coronavirus

UPDATED: Analysts are quick to pan Eli Lilly's puzzling first cut of positive clinical data for its Covid-19 antibody

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Eli Lilly spotlighted a success for one of 3 doses of their closely-watched Covid-19 antibody drug Wednesday morning. But analysts quickly highlighted some obvious anomalies that could come back to haunt the pharma giant as it looks for an emergency use authorization to launch marketing efforts.

The pharma giant reported that LY-CoV555, developed in collaboration with AbCellera, significantly reduced the rate of hospitalization among patients who were treated with the antibody. The drug arm of the study had a 1.7% hospitalization rate, compared to 6% in the control group, marking a 72% drop in risk.

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September 18, 2020 09:25 AM EDTUpdated 10:22 AM

R&D

#ESMO20: Alkermes offers their first snapshot of a benefit for their next-gen IL-2 drug. But why did 1 patient starve to death?

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Everyone in the cancer R&D arena is looking to build new franchises around better drugs and combos. And one busy pocket of that space is centered entirely on creating an IL-2 drug that can be as effective as the original without the toxicity that damned it to the sidelines.

Alkermes $ALKS formally tossed its hat into the ring of contenders at virtual ESMO today, highlighting the first glimpse of efficacy for their candidate, ALKS 4230, as both a monotherapy as well as in combination with Merck’s Keytruda.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Clinical Operations Lead

Vigeo Therapeutics

Cambridge, MA

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September 18, 2020 10:58 AM EDT

Protocols

News briefing: Company developing 'magic mushroom' treatment hits Nasdaq; SpringWorks enters sponsored research agreement with Fred Hutch

Nicole DeFeudis

Associate Editor

Compass Pathways seeks to raise $127.5 million in an upsized IPO, by offering 7,500,000 shares priced at $17 apiece. The London-based company had initially filed for a $100 million IPO, according to its F-1 filing.

The company is researching psilocybin therapy, which combines psilocybin — a psychoactive ingredient found in some species of “magic mushrooms” — with psychological support to treat mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and addiction. It plans on using IPO money to fund research and clinical development of its COMP360 psilocybin therapy.

Leen Kawas, Athira

September 18, 2020 10:25 AM EDTUpdated 10:35 AM

IPOs

Seattle-based Athira, aiming for tough Alzheimer's and Parkinson's targets, raises $204M for IPO

Max Gelman

Associate Editor

Following an $85 million Series B round back in June, Athira Pharma is set to become the third biotech in the last three days to go public Friday.

Athira raised $204 million for its IPO after pricing shares at $17 apiece, the high-point of its expected range. Initially pegging $100 million in financing, Athira said it offered 12 million total shares and will trade under the ticker $ATHA.

Now that Athira plans to hit the Nasdaq, there have been more than 50 biotech IPOs this year, more than the total from last year. Combined, the companies have raised more than $11 billion. Over half of those biotechs, including Athira, raised at least $200 million each.

September 18, 2020 10:23 AM EDT

R&D

Pharma

Seattle Genetics' Astellas-partnered ADC nails confirmatory PhIII in urothelial cancer

Amber Tong

Editor

Nine months after Seattle Genetics nabbed an accelerated approval for its Astellas-partnered antibody-drug conjugate Padcev, the partners said the therapy has nailed a confirmatory Phase III, proving its worth in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.

Padcev, which has widely been tapped as a potential blockbuster, scored improvements in both overall survival and progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy, causing a 30% reduction in risk of death (p = 0.001) and 39% reduction in risk of disease progression or death (p<0.00001).

September 18, 2020 09:51 AM EDTUpdated 11:01 AM

Peer Review

Vedanta Biosciences taps Big Pharma vet Jeffrey Silber as CMO; Robert Doebele leaves behind teaching post at Colorado to focus on CSO job at Rain Therapeutics

Alex Hoffman

Assistant Editor

Kathy Wong

Assistant Editor

→ A Big Pharma vet has joined Cambridge, MA upstart Vedanta Biosciences to help develop and expand on its microbiome-derived bacteria portfolio.

Jeffrey Silber signed on as CMO of Vedanta after 4 years at EMD Serono as their SVP, global clinical development. Silber worked his way through the ranks at Merck in the late 1990s, eventually becoming their VP and therapeutic area head, vaccine clinical research. And after 16 years at the pharma giant, Silber moved on to AbbVie to be their VP, strategic portfolio development.

ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Director of Regulatory Affairs

Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Salt Lake City, UT

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Albert Bourla (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

September 18, 2020 07:58 AM EDT

R&D

Coronavirus

Pfizer matches Moderna with their full Covid-19 trial blueprint — AstraZeneca says it will unveil its protocol 'shortly'

Max Gelman

Associate Editor

Yesterday, after sustained public pressure as Moderna released its Phase III Covid-19 trial blueprint, Pfizer released its own full trial design for their vaccine trials. The move was designed to boost transparency and shore up public trust in the vaccines, but it also revealed differences in how the two companies are approaching the much-watched studies while failing to satisfy the demands of the fiercest advocates for transparency.

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September 18, 2020 07:19 AM EDTUpdated 07:41 AM

Deals

Stronger together? Boehringer and Mirati team to put first KRAS-KRAS combo in the clinic

Jason Mast

Associate Editor

Researchers are still waiting to see how much any of the vaunted KRAS drugs now in the clinic can, after decades of preclinical research and some early human studies, help patients. But while they do, two of the leading developers will look to see whether a KRAS-KRAS combo might pose a better shot than any KRAS alone.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Mirati have signed a collaboration to combine Mirati’s closely-watched lead KRAS inhibitor, MRTX849, in a clinical trial with the pan-KRAS blocker that Boehringer has quietly developed with high expectations behind their flashier contenders.

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