Illumina CEO DeSouza Steps Down Amid Activist Attack, Anti-Trust Battle

Illumina CEO Francis deSouza has resigned from his position, effective immediately. The announcement comes after activist investor Carl Icahn attempted to place three representatives on Illumina's board ahead of the annual shareholder meeting last month. Icahn criticized deSouza's leadership and the incumbent board's failure to maximize value for shareholders, specifically pointing to the 2020 a..

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  • · 2023. 6. 13.
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Pharma Companies, Pharmacies Agree to Pay $19B in Opioid Settlement

Pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies have agreed to pay $19 billion in an opioid settlement with state and local governments, settling lawsuits alleging that Allergan, Teva Pharmaceuticals, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart drove the opioid epidemic. The settlement comes after AbbVie (through Allergan) and Teva were set to pay some $5 billion to settle about 3,500 opioid lawsuits more than a year a..

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  • · 2023. 6. 13.
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Novartis to Acquire Kidney Player Chinook Therapeutics for $3.2 Billion

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has announced its acquisition of kidney player Chinook Therapeutics for $3.5 billion, in a bid to expand its renal drug portfolio. The deal includes an upfront cash payment of $3.2 billion and up to $300 million in contingent value rights, payable once certain regulatory milestones are achieved. The acquisition will give Novartis access to Chinook's two late..

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  • · 2023. 6. 13.
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Gene Editing Race Between Editas and Vertex, CRISPR Heats Up

Gene editing companies Editas Medicine, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics are all racing to develop treatments for sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. Editas recently unveiled early data from its RUBY and EdiTHAL trials, demonstrating the potential of its gene editor EDIT-301 in treating these diseases. However, Vertex and CRISPR also released posit..

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  • · 2023. 6. 12.
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FDA Adcomm Unanimously Backs Full Approval of Eisai, Biogen’s Leqembi

The FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee has voted 6-0 in favor of granting full approval to Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi (lecanemab) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The decision is expected to result in full FDA approval on or before July 6th, as the agency usually follows its advisory committees' recommendations. The FDA released briefing documents that ..

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  • · 2023. 6. 12.
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AstraZeneca and Quell to Develop Cell Therapies in $2B Deal for Type 1 Diabetes and IBD

AstraZeneca has partnered with Quell Therapeutics to develop cell therapies for Type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disorder in a potential deal worth over $2 billion. The collaboration will involve the development of autologous multi-modular Treg cell therapies, which are designed to suppress an overactive immune response seen in organ transplantation, inflammatory and autoimmune disease. As..

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  • · 2023. 6. 12.
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Protagonist Therapeutics Plans a Follow-on Two-Year Extension Study to Enable Further Evaluation of the Long-Term Effects of Rusfertide

Protagonist Therapeutics plans to conduct a two-year extension study, PTG-300-21, to evaluate the long-term effects of rusfertide in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). The decision was based on positive results from the REVIVE study of rusfertide in PV, which showed sustained and durable hematocrit control under 45% in patients who remained largely phlebotomy-free. Nearly 70% of subjects rece..

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  • · 2023. 6. 11.
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Astellas Submits New Drug Application for Zolbetuximab in Japan

Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for zolbetuximab, an investigational Claudin 18.2-targeted monoclonal antibody being evaluated as a first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tu..

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  • · 2023. 6. 11.
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Kymera Therapeutics Announces Updated Clinical Data from the Phase 1 Trials of STAT3 Degrader KT-333 and IRAKIMiD Degrader KT-413

Kymera Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has released updated clinical data from the phase 1 trials of STAT3 Degrader KT-333 and IRAKIMiD Degrader KT-413. The new data shows that both programs continue to demonstrate substantial target knockdown in ongoing clinical trials with no dose limiting toxicities observed. Kymera is developing these drugs to target protein degrada..

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  • · 2023. 6. 11.
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NRx Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of $6.28 Million Registered Direct Offering

NRx Pharmaceuticals has announced the completion of its registered direct offering for 9,670,002 shares of common stock at $0.65 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $6.28 million before deducting placement agent fees and other expenses. The company intends to use net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, as well as potentially using it..

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  • · 2023. 6. 11.
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