Novartis, at work on a cardio drug widely expected to bring in billions of dollars once approved, is working to tamp down concerns that the oral treatment could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, adding measures of brain function to an ongoing trial. …read more Source: Novartis looks to squelch neuro worries over its would-be […]
Israeli-American biotech Chiasma has raised $70 million in Series E cash, moving on from an aborted collaboration with Roche and rolling toward FDA approval with a treatment for the hormone disorder acromegaly. …read more Source: Chiasma hauls in $70M to write its post-Roche future
Welcome to this week’s Chutes and Ladders, our roundup of hirings and retirings throughout the industry. …read more Source: Viehbacher joins PureTech board in first post-Sanofi venture
Months after a bitter exit from the top spot at Sanofi, Christopher Viehbacher is back out in public, joining Boston startup factory PureTech to help steer its portfolio of fledgling companies. …read more Source: Viehbacher wades into the startup world, joining PureTech in his first post-Sanofi move
Pushing through on a plan to get out of the early-stage anti-infectives R&D space, AstraZeneca is spinning out its Waltham, MA-based company into an independent biotech, a move that will have an impact on the 95 staffers remaining in the swiftly dwindling operation. …read more Source: Exclusive: AstraZeneca spinning out its anti-infectives R&D unit in […]
South San Francisco’s Lyric Pharmaceuticals raised $20.4 million in first-round financing to support its work on a hush-hush gastrointestinal drug. …read more Source: Stealthy Lyric Pharma bags $20M for its gastro drug
Boehringer Ingelheim has put a hold on its Phase I work with a BACE inhibitor for Alzheimer’s, marking the latest in a series of missteps for this category of therapeutics, which has emerged as one of the key arenas in the field. …read more Source: Another BACE inhibitor trips up as Boehringer halts Alzheimer’s study […]
A fast-changing Merck KGaA is backing away from discovery and preclinical R&D deals it set up with the antibody specialists at Ablynx. And the Belgian biotech saw its shares slide 14% today after news of the prospective breakup–included in Ablynx’s annual summary–spread in the markets. …read more Source: Ablynx gets caught in Merck KGaA’s R&D […]
More than three years after Merck KGaA decided to dump its partnership with Milan-based Newron Pharmaceuticals, which in turn iced a planned buyout by Biotie, the Italian biotech has persevered to win European approval to market safinamide as an add-on drug for Parkinson’s disease. …read more Source: After painful odyssey, Newron wins European OK for […]
Welcome to FierceBiotech Radio, a podcast in which we’ll chat with industry experts, newsmakers and veterans on issues affecting the business of biopharma. The idea is to replicate the off-the-cuff encounters normally confined to insidery confabs, avoiding the dullness of hyperscripted earnings calls and technical webinars. …read more Source: Introducing FierceBiotech’s new podcast
