Savara Inc., of Austin, Texas, said it priced an underwritten public offering of 8.42 million shares of its common stock at $4.75 each, with expected gross proceeds of approximately $40 million. Read More
Oxonc Development LP, of Cayman Islands, said co-development partner Pfizer Inc., of New York, received regulatory approval in Japan and Taiwan to market crizotinib (Xalkori) 200 mg/250 mg capsules for patients with ROS1-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Read More
Lion Biotechnologies Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., announced that the first patient was dosed in a phase II trial of LN-145 to treat recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Read More
Aslan Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, reported that data from a phase Ib study of lead candidate, varlitinib, in combination with doublet chemotherapy to treat patients with metastatic solid tumors showed the regimen was safe, well tolerated and showed efficacy signals in cholangiocarcinoma. Read More
Researchers have developed analogues of vancomycin with three independent and synergistic mechanisms of action. Developing antibiotics that overcome resistance often focuses on improving a drug's fit with its binding pocket, but much like in the development of antitumor drugs, bacteria can evolve resistance to such second-generation inhibitors as well. Read More
ZHUHAI, China – Attendees at what has become one of Asia's most important annual partnering meetings heard multinational company and local biopharma execs talk optimistically about positive changes the CFDA proposed just weeks ago, which promise to open the doors to China's market for novel drugs. Read More
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – In Colombia, guidelines for biosimilar regulation share a certain similarity with buses: wait for ages, then two come along at once. In August, three years after the Colombian government issued a decree mandating the ministry of health to establish regulations for biosimilars, two new guidelines – focusing on stability and immunogenicity – will be implemented. Read More
LONDON – Europe's only crowdfunding platform dedicated to the life sciences has gone live in the U.K., with four companies now looking to attract investors online, and four more gearing up to launch campaigns. Read More
NEW ORLEANS – A preclinical antibiotic candidate under development at Novabiotics Ltd. called Luminaderm, or NP-108, could potentially offer clinicians a new way to head off troublesome nasal Staphylococcus aureus infections, if early data showcased at the American Society for Microbiology's (ASM) Microbe 2017 meeting, holds up to scrutiny in the clinical trials. Read More
NEW ORLEANS – Drug shortages, a persistent thorn in the side of health care providers across the spectrum, have moved from troubling to hazardous, speakers said today at the American Society for Microbiology's (ASM) Microbe 2017 meeting. Read More
Although halting one clinical program, modifying another and axing 40 percent of its staff wasn't exactly the way Endocyte Inc. hoped to make its entrance at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, those were precisely the steps the company took to "put patients first," according to CEO Mike Sherman. The company's reduction in force and termination of programs for EC-1456 and EC-1169 in taxane-naïve patients affect the company's capacity to execute but not its capabilities, Sherman told BioWorld Today. Read More
CHICAGO – As most sessions in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting dealt with clinical testing of drugs, discovery of biomarkers and diagnostic techniques, other key findings rolled out that addressed another aspect of cancer, important but less often spoken about in therapeutic circles: the psychological distress of people afflicted with the disease. Read More
CHICAGO – At the 2017 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), immunotherapy was front and center, as it is wont to be these days. Read More