Embattled Sorrento files for bankruptcy

Today's Big News

Feb 13, 2023

Reed relinquishes R&D reins at Sanofi to pursue new opportunity, sparking race to find successor


Frequency falters after phase 2 fail, axing 2 assets and 55% of staff


3 years after rejecting $1B buyout, Sorrento files for bankruptcy amid legal battles


On the turnaround trail, tiny Corbus pays $7.5M for rival to Seagen's oncology ADC Padcev


Ena slices data to claim flu success in phase 2 and nasal spray's wide-ranging potential

 

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Reed relinquishes R&D reins at Sanofi to pursue new opportunity, sparking race to find successor

John Reed is leaving Sanofi. Almost five years after being named Sanofi’s head of global R&D, the former Roche executive is departing to “pursue a new opportunity”—leaving the French drugmaker with an interim leader while it races to find a full-time replacement.
 

Top Stories

Frequency falters after phase 2 fail, axing 2 assets and 55% of staff

Frequency’s phase 2b ear infection trial failed to hit any of the study goals, prompting the biotech to drop development of the asset. It also means that Frequency has decided to discontinue another earlier asset that was being tested in the same indication, as well as let go of more than half its team.

3 years after rejecting $1B buyout, Sorrento files for bankruptcy amid legal battles

Sorrento Therapeutics is filing for bankruptcy amid ongoing litigation against billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and his company NantCell.

On the turnaround trail, tiny Corbus pays $7.5M for rival to Seagen's oncology ADC Padcev

Corbus Pharmaceuticals is mounting a David vs. Goliath battle against Seagen, spending $7.5 million of its dwindling cash reserves on a challenger to the nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate Padcev.

Ena slices data to claim flu success in phase 2 and nasal spray's wide-ranging potential

Ena Respiratory had to fillet the data to claim a win from its phase 2a flu prophylaxis trial, insisting that its nasal spray could ultimately be effective against viruses like COVID-19 and the common cold.

Amid bankruptcy, Clovis reveals more regulatory troubles for Rubraca

Clovis’ effort to move Rubraca into earlier ovarian cancer treatment continues to face pushback from drug regulators. And the company’s search for a Rubraca buyer doesn’t look very promising, either.

Philips CPAP recall spurs another 82 reports of patient deaths, pushing total to 346

Even as Philips nears the end of the repair-and-replace program for its recall of 5.5 million respiratory devices, complaints about the machines are still rolling in.

How the current economic downturn impacts healthcare funding and investor strategy

Going forward, hospitals will need to focus on operations and rely less on outside earnings to boost their performance. Companies looking for funding should focus on proving out a sustainable business model, investors say.

Genentech plugs $450M into next-gen biologics plant in California, where it'll hire 150

Speed is a consistent theme in Genentech’s blueprint for a new biologics plant at its campus in Oceanside, California. The Roche subsidiary is pitching the site as “one of the most modern commercial-scale biotech manufacturing facilities in the world.”

The era of 'free' COVID tests, treatments and vaccines is ending. Who will pay the tab now?

Time is running out for free-to-consumer COVID vaccines, at-home test kits and even some treatments.

Doximity rolls out beta version of ChatGPT tool for docs aiming to streamline administrative paperwork

The internet is buzzing with news about ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence large language model developed by OpenAI, and its potential uses in medical practice and education. Doximity rolled out a beta version of a ChatGPT tool for doctors that helps streamline some of their time-consuming administrative tasks.
 
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'The Top Line': 2022's top M&A deals and 2023's potential

This week on "The Top Line," we discuss which companies made the list of the top 10 pharma M&A deals of 2022 and what was at stake last year. We also talk about what last year's biggest deal means for M&A activity this year.

 

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A Strategy to Standardize Process Characterization & Late Phase Development

Learn more on an approach for process characterization for the production of a monoclonal antibody, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process by targeting the right design and number of experiments.

 

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