With $150M and a new NASH discovery deal with Gilead, AI star Daphne Koller has set out to change the drug R&D world

April 16, 2019 06:59 AM EDTUpdated 07:09 AM

With $150M and a new NASH discovery deal with Gilead, AI star Daphne Koller has set out to change the drug R&D world

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Daphne Koller spent the last year quietly putting together one of the biggest plays in biopharma AI. And backed by some of the deepest pockets in biotech, she’s now marking a key turning point for her fledgling startup insitro by forming a fresh R&D alliance with Gilead.

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IDC: Life Sciences Firms Must Embrace Digital Transformation Now

James Allgood

Sr Product Marketing Manager, Life Sciences, Egnyte

Pre-pandemic, the life sciences industry had settled into a pattern. The average drug took 12 years and $2.9 billion to bring to market, and it was an acceptable mode of operations, according to Nimita Limaye, Research Vice President for Life Sciences R&D Strategy and Technology at IDC.

COVID-19 changed that, and served as a proof-of-concept for how technology can truly help life sciences companies succeed and grow, Limaye said. She recently spoke about industry trends at Egnyte’s Life Sciences Summit 2022. You should watch the entire session, free and on-demand, but here’s a brief recap of why she’s urging life sciences companies to embrace digital transformation.

Martin Landray, Protas CEO (Illustration: Assistant Editor Kathy Wong for Endpoints News)

August 18, 2022 10:00 AM EDT

R&D

In Focus

Those big billion-dollar PhIII studies? Martin Landray says they can be done for a tiny fraction of the cost

Martin Landray knows what controversy in clinical drug development feels like, from first-hand experience.

Landray was the chief architect of RECOVERY, a study that pitted a variety of drugs against Covid-19. And he offered some landmark data that would help push dexamethasone out into broader use as a cheap treatment, while helping ice hydroxy’s reputation as a clear misfire.

“Lots of people told us we shouldn’t use it,” Landray says about dexamethasone and Covid-19. “It was dangerous. We shouldn’t even do a trial. They also cared about hydroxychloroquine and lots of people said we shouldn’t do a trial because it must be used. I’ve got the letters from both sets of people.”

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Geoffrey Porges, new Schrödinger CFO

August 18, 2022 09:10 AM EDT

People

Longtime analyst Geoffrey Porges departs SVB to lead finances at a drug discovery shop

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Geoffrey Porges has ended his two-decade run as a biotech analyst, as the former SVB Securities vice chair began as CFO of Schrödinger on Thursday.

The long-running analyst, who previously headed up vaccines marketing at Merck before the turn of the millennium, will lead the financial operations of the 700-employee company as Schrödinger broadens its focus from a drug discovery partner to also building out an in-house pipeline, with clinical trial No. 1 set to begin next quarter.

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Head of Site Finance mRNA - Cell & Gene

Lonza

Geleen, Netherland

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August 17, 2022 01:45 PM EDTUpdated 3 hours ago

Cell/Gene Tx

FDA approves one of the priciest new treatments of all time — bluebird's gene therapy for beta thalassemia

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The FDA on Wednesday approved the first gene therapy for a chronic condition — bluebird bio’s new Zynteglo (beti-cel) as a potentially curative treatment for those with transfusion-dependent thalassemia.

The thumbs-up from the FDA follows a unanimous adcomm vote in June, with outside experts pointing to extraordinary efficacy, with 89% of subjects with TDT who received beti-cel having achieved transfusion independence.

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Joel Dudley, new partner at Innovation Endeavors (Bosch Health Campus)

August 17, 2022 11:19 AM EDTUpdated 04:21 PM

People

Financing

Former Google CEO’s VC is making a bigger push into the biotech world, hiring prominent Theranos skeptic

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

Venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors has mainly had its focus on investments across the tech space, but it has been slowly turning its attention to the biotech world. Now, a new partner is coming into the fold showing that its interest in biotech is likely to grow further.

The Silicon Valley-based company, which is headed up by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has brought on Joel Dudley as a partner. According to Dudley’s LinkedIn page, he is joining Innovation Endeavors after serving as the chief science officer of biotech startup Tempus Labs since 2020.

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James Mock, incoming CFO at Moderna

August 17, 2022 02:15 PM EDTUpdated 02:59 PM

People

Pharma

Moderna taps new CFO from PerkinElmer after former one-day CFO ousted

Paul Schloesser

Associate Editor

When Moderna hired a new CFO last year, it didn’t expect to see him gone after only one day. Today the biotech named his — likely much more vetted — replacement.

The mRNA company put out word early Wednesday that after the untimely departure of then brand-new CFO Jorge Gomez, it has now found a replacement in James Mock, the soon-to-be former CFO at diagnostics and analytics company PerkinElmer.

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Chris Sheldon, AstraZeneca's former VP and head of investor relations

August 16, 2022 01:48 PM EDTUpdated 04:54 PM

People

Pharma

AstraZeneca files lawsuit against former exec as he jumps to GSK

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

AstraZeneca and GSK are once again wrangling over talent.

The British pharma giant has filed suit against former VP and head of investor relations Chris Sheldon as he prepares to start a new job at its rival next month. AstraZeneca argued in a London court filing that Sheldon would be violating a non-compete agreement, which he was paid more than $774,000 in shares to sign back in 2021, Bloomberg reported.

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Head of Quality Systems

Lonza

Lexington, MA, USA

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Bayer's first DTC ad campaign for chronic kidney disease drug Kerendia spells out its benefits

August 17, 2022 02:17 PM EDT

Pharma

Marketing

Bayer aims to simplify the complexities of CKD with an ABC-themed ad campaign

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

Do you know the ABCs of CKD in T2D? Bayer’s first ad campaign for Kerendia tackles the complexity of chronic kidney disease with a play on the acronym (CKD) and its connection to type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Kerendia was approved last year as the first and only non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist to treat CKD in people with type 2 diabetes.

In the TV commercial launched this week, A is for awareness, B is for belief and C is for cardiovascular, explained in the ad as awareness of the connection between type 2 and kidney disease, belief that something can be done about it, and cardiovascular events that may be reduced with treatment.

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Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division

August 17, 2022 01:47 PM EDT

Deals

GSK lands first-ever UNICEF contract for malaria vaccine worth $170M

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

GSK has landed a new first from UNICEF — the first-ever contract for malaria vaccines, worth up to $170 million for 18 million vaccine doses distributed over the next three years.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix or RTS,S, won WHO’s backing last October after a controversial start, but UNICEF said these doses will potentially save thousands of lives every year.

“We hope this is just the beginning,” Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division, said. “Continued innovation is needed to develop new and next-generation vaccines to increase available supply, and enable a healthier vaccine market. This is a giant step forward in our collective efforts to save children’s lives and reduce the burden of malaria as part of wider malaria prevention and control programmes.”