March 23, 2021 09:46 AM EDTUpdated 11:18 AM
R&D
In Focus

'Part of re­cov­ery is aware­ness': Pan­dem­ic casts harsh spot­light on in­dus­try-wide lack of di­ver­si­ty in clin­i­cal tri­als

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Moderna emerged as an early leader in the race for a vaccine to stop Covid-19 in its tracks. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech bounded through development of one of the world’s first mRNA vaccines, but in September — when the pandemic was claiming upwards of 700 lives a day in the US — they took a step back.

The company did something not many (if any) biotechs have ever done: At the urging of the US government, they slowed Phase III enrollment to recruit more participants from minority groups.

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SPONSORED
March 20, 2023 06:00 AM EDT

Has the mo­ment fi­nal­ly ar­rived for val­ue-based health­care?

Sean Dodge

Healthcare Technology Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

RBC Capital Markets’ Healthcare Technology Analyst, Sean Dodge, spotlights a new breed of tech-enabled providers who are rapidly transforming the way clinicians deliver healthcare, and explores the key question: can this accelerating revolution overturn the US healthcare system?

Key points

Tech-enabled healthcare providers are poised to help the US transition to value, not volume, as the basis for reward.
The move to value-based care has policy momentum, but is risky and complex for clinicians.
Outsourced tech specialists are emerging to provide the required expertise, while healthcare and tech are also converging through M&A.
Value-based care remains in its early stages, but the transition is accelerating and represents a huge addressable market.

Alaa Halawaa, executive director at Mubadala’s US venture group
March 22, 2023 08:00 AM EDTUpdated 08:28 AM
Bioregnum
Discovery

The ven­ture crew at Mubadala are up­ping their biotech cre­ation game, tak­ing care­ful aim at a new fron­tier in drug de­vel­op­ment

It started with a cup of coffee and a slow burning desire to go early and long in the biotech creation business.

Wrapping up a 15-year discovery stint at Genentech back in the summer of 2021, Rami Hannoush was treated to a caffeine-fueled review of the latest work UCSF’s Jim Wells had been doing on protein degradation — one of the hottest fields in drug development.

“Jim and I have known each other for the past 15 years through Genentech collaborations. We met over coffee, and he was telling me about this concept of the company that he was thinking of,” says Hannoush. “And I got immediately intrigued by it because I knew that this could open up a big space in terms of adding a new modality in drug discovery that is desperately needed in pharma.”

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March 22, 2023 08:58 AM EDT
People

'Band­ing to­geth­er': 50 fe­male biotech ex­ec­u­tives lay out plans for board di­ver­si­ty, new com­pa­nies and men­tor­ing founders

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Earlier this month, during the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown, Angie You recalled the speed with which female biotech CEOs were helping each other connect with bankers, get their wires through and assuage concerns during a financial implosion.

This past weekend, 50 of about 125 women who are part of that Slack group and a broader coalition self-dubbed the Biotech Sisterhood met in person in Cancun for the second rendition of an annual summit connecting female biotech CEOs. The attendance list doubled that of the inaugural gathering in Arizona 12 months ago.

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Rohan Palekar, 89bio CEO
March 22, 2023 07:00 AM EDT
R&D

89bio’s PhII da­ta add to quick suc­ces­sion of NASH read­outs as field seeks turn­around

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

89bio said its drug was better than placebo at lessening fibrosis without worsening nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, in two of three dose groups.

The San Francisco biotech said it thinks the Phase IIb data pave the way for a potential Phase III, following in the footsteps of another biotech in its drug class, Akero Therapeutics. To fund a late-stage study, CEO Rohan Palekar told Endpoints News 89bio “would need to raise additional capital,” with the company having about $188 million at the end of last year.

March 20, 2023 11:47 AM EDTUpdated 11:58 AM
R&D
FDA+

FDA in­di­cates will­ing­ness to ap­prove Bio­gen ALS drug de­spite failed PhI­II study

Max Gelman

Senior Editor

Ahead of Wednesday’s advisory committee hearing to discuss Biogen’s ALS drug tofersen, the FDA appeared open to approving the drug, newly released briefing documents show.

Citing the need for flexibility in a devastating disease like ALS, regulators signaled a willingness to consider greenlighting tofersen based on its effect on a certain protein associated with ALS despite a failed pivotal trial. The documents come after regulatory flexibility was part of the same rationale the agency expressed when approving an ALS drug last September from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, indicating the FDA’s openness to approving new treatments for the disease.

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March 22, 2023 07:23 AM EDT
R&D

Roche and Lil­ly team up to de­vel­op blood test to de­tect ear­ly signs of Alzheimer's

Katherine Lewin

News Reporter

Eli Lilly is teaming up with Roche to help develop a blood test to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and determine whether a patient should go for further confirmatory testing.

Roche’s Elecsys Amyloid Plasma Panel (EAPP) measures pTau 181 protein assay and APOE E4 assay in human blood plasma – elevations in pTau 181 are present in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, while the presence of APO E4 is the most common genetic risk factor for the disease.

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Flare Therapeutics biochemists Yong Li (L) and Valerie Vivat
March 22, 2023 06:30 AM EDT
Financing
Startups

A $123M Flare will get Third Rock on­col­o­gy biotech in­to the clin­ic this year

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Flare Therapeutics will start its first human trial this year with an investigational urothelial cancer drug after pulling together a $123 million Series B from Big Pharmas, VCs and its incubator, Third Rock Ventures.

Launched in 2021 on the idea that a biotech could finally succeed at drugging the much-sought-after but stubborn transcription factor, Flare Therapeutics said Wednesday it is now primed for the clinic after closing its large financing haul earlier this year. The raise is a relatively stark figure in a tough startup financing environment but further buoys the upbeat signals coming out of other Third Rock biotechs in recent weeks, including the $200 million CARGO Therapeutics and $100 million Rapport Therapeutics rounds.

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Francesco Marincola, newly-appointed Sonata Therapeutics CSO
March 21, 2023 07:28 AM EDTUpdated 01:44 PM
People
Startups

Kite's head of re­search leaves for Flag­ship start­up Sonata

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Another leader is departing Kite Pharma, and will to spend the “last part” of his career exploring how cancer evades the immune system.

Kite’s senior VP and global head of cell therapy research Francesco Marincola left the Gilead CAR-T unit last week for Sonata Therapeutics. Flagship last May unveiled the startup, which was pieced together from two fledgling biotechs Inzen and Cygnal Therapeutics. As CSO, Marincola will lead Sonata’s push to reprogram cancer cells to make them more immunogenic.

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Vipin Garg, Altimmune CEO
March 21, 2023 11:24 AM EDT
R&D

Al­tim­mune’s shares halved af­ter in­ter­im look at PhII weight loss drug da­ta

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Altimmune’s attempt to catch up to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs hit an investor snag Tuesday after the biotech shared interim Phase II weight loss data.

The Maryland biotech’s pemvidutide is a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist meant to activate GLP-1 receptors to squash appetite and glucagon to ramp up energy use. The 2.4 mg dose showed a placebo-adjusted weight loss of 9.7% at week 24 of 48, which Jefferies analysts said would be comparable to Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (Wegovy) and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide (Mounjaro).

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'Part of re­cov­ery is aware­ness': Pan­dem­ic casts harsh spot­light on in­dus­try-wide lack of di­ver­si­ty in clin­i­cal tri­als

Has the mo­ment fi­nal­ly ar­rived for val­ue-based health­care?

The ven­ture crew at Mubadala are up­ping their biotech cre­ation game, tak­ing care­ful aim at a new fron­tier in drug de­vel­op­ment

'Band­ing to­geth­er': 50 fe­male biotech ex­ec­u­tives lay out plans for board di­ver­si­ty, new com­pa­nies and men­tor­ing founders

89bio’s PhII da­ta add to quick suc­ces­sion of NASH read­outs as field seeks turn­around

FDA in­di­cates will­ing­ness to ap­prove Bio­gen ALS drug de­spite failed PhI­II study

Roche and Lil­ly team up to de­vel­op blood test to de­tect ear­ly signs of Alzheimer's

A $123M Flare will get Third Rock on­col­o­gy biotech in­to the clin­ic this year

Kite's head of re­search leaves for Flag­ship start­up Sonata

Al­tim­mune’s shares halved af­ter in­ter­im look at PhII weight loss drug da­ta