AbbVie's Severino heads to biotech
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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Bristol Myers triples-down on Immatics, bringing deal to $4.2B total biobucks. Why not just buy it?

It’s the rare triple down: Bristol Myers Squibb is once again revising a massive research collaboration with immunotherapy drug discovery biotech Immatics. BMS is adding new deal with $60 million upfront and $700 million down the line for at least two new programs, plus expanding its prior arrangement.

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Top Stories

Enochian CEO, facing short-seller attack, tries to distance biotech from co-founder arrested in murder-for-hire-plot

It's not every day that a biotech's scientific co-founder is arrested on murder-for-hire charges. But the aftermath of that arrest is just what Enochian Biosciences' CEO faces now—and he's fighting back against short-sellers and their "thinly veiled attempt to smear" the company.

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From Big Pharma to little Tessera, Michael Severino rewrites his next chapter as CEO of Flagship biotech

Michael Severino, M.D., is leaving AbbVie and big pharma behind—but that’s not the end of the story. The leader is already entering his next chapter at Tessera Therapeutics, stepping into the world of biotech as CEO of the gene writing and rewriting company.

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Merck KGaA nabs another baton in protein degradation race with $554M Proxygen deal

As the protein degradation field continues to grow, Merck KGaA has decided it needs more than one baton in the metaphorical clinical relay race, inking a $554 million deal with Austrian biotech Proxygen.

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Samantha Truex did a rare thing last time she was CEO: admit defeat. She's back with a new biotech and $200M

The last time Samantha Truex was CEO of a biotech, she did something rare: She admitted defeat. Now, Truex is back at the helm of Upstream Bio, a new inflammatory disease biotech that has been quietly building over the past few months and is ready to reveal today with a whopping $200 million in financing.

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Roche pays Repare $125M to join Big Pharma peers in cancer race

Roche is joining AstraZeneca, Bayer, Merck KGaA and more in a synthetic lethality race, paying Repare Therapeutics $125 million upfront for an ATR inhibitor with monotherapy and combination applications in indications such as ovarian cancer.

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PARADIGME shift: Nordic Nanovector reviews stuttering cancer trial as enrollment grinds to a halt

Nordic Nanovector has responded to the glacial pace of enrollment in its phase 2b follicular lymphoma clinical trial. After failing to enroll any patients in May, the Norwegian biotech has decided to conduct a “comprehensive review” of all aspects of the flatlining study.

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Bristol Myers drug candidate repairs neuronal damage in Alzheimer’s mouse models

In Alzheimer’s disease, the loss of neuronal nexus called synapse contributes to the progressive cognitive decline. Now, scientists at Yale University found that an experimental drug originally developed by Bristol Myers Squibb for schizophrenia repair that damage in mice.

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Oncology biotech Atreca pulled into industry’s layoff whirlpool, cuts 25% of staff

After resisting as long as it could, small oncology biotech Atreca has finally succumbed to the layoff surge pulling in other fellow biotechs and plans to cull a quarter of its workforce.

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Centessa dumps top program after evidence of tolerability issues stunt market potential

Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ is taking the ax to its sole phase 3 program after evidence of tolerability issues in an open-label trial spurred questions about the market potential. 

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Thread teams up with mental health app maker to offer digital support services to trial patients

Bezyl is teaming up with contract research organization Thread to provide clinical trial patients with access to the digital mental health company’s app and support systems.

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Oncology trial starts hit record levels as COVID disruptions ease: report

Oncology trial starts reached record levels in 2021—particularly in rare indications—as disruptions in cancer care brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.

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Bristol Myers drug candidate repairs neuronal damage in Alzheimer’s mouse models

In Alzheimer’s disease, the loss of neuronal nexus called synapse contributes to the progressive cognitive decline. Now, scientists at Yale University found that an experimental drug originally developed by Bristol Myers Squibb for schizophrenia repair that damage in mice.

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Sana Biotechnology ditches California manufacturing plans in bid to save $100M

Sana Biotechnology, which raised a whopping $588 million in its initial public offering last year, has inked a deal for new manufacturing space. The move up the West Coast will save the company $100 million over three years.

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Resources

eBook: Streamline HCP interactions management

Don’t miss these critical considerations when evaluating your HCP interactions management program.

Executive Summary: PBPK Modelling for Optimizing Controlled Release Dosage Form Development

In this executive summary, we describe the benefits of controlled release, look at how to determine whether a drug is suitable for controlled release, review the application of PBPK modelling in controlled release formulation development and discuss how modified release products can be developed to deliver optimal patient outcomes.

Whitepaper: Gain Operational Speed and Velocity by Sharing Quality Incident Data

Quality operations guide your organization through regulatory compliance processes and safeguard your products, processes, and reputation. But your team is capable of so much more. Quality incident data and processes can be a driver of significant business value if shared with other stakeholders.

Whitepaper: Catalent Pulmonary & Nasal Delivery Capabilities Sheet

Did you know Catalent has newly expanded in-house capabilities spanning clinical and commercial scale manufacturing for DPIs, unit-dose, bi-dose and preserved multi-dose nasal sprays?

eBook: Orally Inhaled & Nasal Drug Delivery: A Pipeline of Opportunities

Orally Inhaled & Nasal Drug Delivery: A Pipeline of Opportunities

Whitepaper: Intranasal Drug Product Development: Formulation to Manufacturing

What are key considerations for intranasal delivery in the treatment of acute and chronic conditions?

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