Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., reported preclinical findings showing that an antibody-drug conjugate directed to the ALK receptor tyrosine kinase demonstrated efficacy in models of neuroblastoma. Read More
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany. and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. said they will conduct two outcome trials investigating the diabetes medicine Jardiance (empagliflozin) for the treatment of people with chronic heart failure. Read More
Spinalcyte LLC, of Houston, reported results from phase II animal studies testing human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) for transplantation in intevertebral disc degeneration. Read More
Amryt Pharma plc, of Dublin, completed its £10 million (US$14.4 million) raise, placing about 41.7 million shares at 24 pence each, to fund accelerated development of Episalvan in epidermolysis bullosa. Read More
Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) based in Hyderabad, India, received a warning letter from the FDA about serious data violations. Read More
Gemphire Therapeutics Inc. and Phaserx Inc. have become the latest brave entrants to the biopharma IPO queue, joining 17 other contenders filed and pending, in a public financing climate significantly cooler than in 2015. Gemphire, a cardiovascular-focused clinical company with a midstage dyslipidemia drug, is seeking a proposed $60 million, while Phaserx, a preclinical company working on treatments for inherited enzyme deficiencies, has proposed raising up to $25.3 million. Read More
LONDON – Biosimilars companies have joined forces to drive uptake of their products in the U.K., securing the backing of the National Health Service's (NHS) chief pharmaceutical officer in a push to promote competition against higher-price originators. Read More
DUBLIN – Promethera Biosciences SA is acquiring the principal assets and expertise of Cytonet GmbH & Co KG in a stock-based deal that will combine two organizations focused on developing cell therapies for diseases of the liver. Read More
CEO Michele Garufi told BioWorld Today that Nicox SA's eye-drop form of cetirizine "has a good chance to take a nice market share" in eye itching related to allergic conjunctivitis (AC), and could win priority review, thanks to data in pediatric patients. "Of course, [market success] will depend on the partner that we select for commercialization," he added. Talks are under way. Read More
Seeking to succeed where big pharma failed, start-up Dalcor Pharma UK Ltd. completed a $100 million series B round to put an exclamation point on the $50 million series A the company closed late in 2015. Read More