Cambridge, Mass.-based Akcea Therapeutics priced its offering of 15.6 million shares at $8 apiece to reach its $125 million IPO target. The company initially priced an offering of 9.6 million shares at $12 to $14 per share. Akcea’s shares are slated to begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange today under the “AKCA.” The biotech is a […]
Mayo Clinic, nference launch startup to leverage AI for drug development
Mayo Clinic and nference today launched a startup, Qrativ, focused on drug development driven by artificial intelligence. The company, backed by a $8.3 million Series A round, plans to combine nference’s AI platform and Mayo Clinic’s clinical data. Qrativ hopes to use AI to discover potential new therapeutic indications for drugs earlier in development, in […]
Bigfoot Biomedical’s CEO talks disruption in diabetes management tech
Bigfoot Biomedical is a highly competitive player in medtech’s race to develop an artificial pancreas. The 50-person company has made rapid progress towards developing a smart, automated insulin delivery system since its beginnings in 2014. Just yesterday Bigfoot announced that it is partnering with Abbott, bringing together Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring tech and Bigfoot’s insulin […]
Judge rules that Mylan can’t move EpiPen antitrust suit
New Jersey federal judge Freda Wolfson rejected Mylan‘s (NSDQ:MYL) request to move an antitrust lawsuit brought against the EpiPen maker to Kansas. Mylan previously claimed that moving the case to Kansas would consolidate it with other class actions from EpiPen buyers – all of which are alleging violations of antitrust laws. Wolfson blocked the request […]
Press Release: Piab’s pharma conveyor line now available with Wet-In-Place function
(Press Release) – Ensuring a safer working environment in food and pharmaceutical processing plants, Wet-In-Place (WIP) functionality has been added to Piab‘s popular piFLOW®p vacuum conveyors. WIP spray nozzles are now available for inclusion/retrofitting in new and existing piFLOW®p conveying systems. The water sprayed by the WIP nozzles will wet any dust from food or […]
MIT researchers fight drug-resistant bacteria with nanoparticles
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are using nanoparticles to tackle drug-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in Advanced Materials. Gram-negative bacteria are particularly difficult to treat, since they are protected by two cell membranes. But the team of Cambridge-based researchers reported that antimicrobial peptides inside of a silicon nanoparticle effectively reduced the number […]
Mallinckrodt wins orphan drug status for long-acting muscular dystrophy therapy
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:MNK) said today that the FDA granted orphan drug status to its long-acting cosyntropin acetate formulation, MNK-1411, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In August last year, the FDA approved the company’s request to fast track its investigational new drug application for the therapy. “We are pleased the FDA has granted orphan drug status to […]
Sunovion divests asthma, allergy tech to Covis Pharma
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals said today that it plans to divest the U.S. market rights for its allergy and asthma products to Covis Pharma, in an effort to narrow its focus to the company’s COPD portfolio. Included in the deal is Sunovion’s Alvesco inhalation aerosol, its Omnaris nasal spray and its Zetonna nasal aerosol. All three products […]
FDA panel recommends approval for gene-altering cancer treatment
An FDA advisory panel yesterday recommended approval for Novartis‘ (NYSE:NVS) CAR-T gene therapy. If approved, it would be the first ever treatment of its kind on the market. The panel voted unanimously, 10-0, to recommend that the FDA give its official nod. The company’s therapy genetically alters a patient’s own cells to fight acute lymphoblastic leukemia. […]
Bigfoot Biomedical taps Abbott to collaborate on automated insulin delivery tech
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Bigfoot Biomedical said today that the companies inked a deal to develop and commercialize diabetes management systems. The collaboration will bring together Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring tech and Bigfoot’s insulin delivery platform, the companies reported. According to the deal, Abbott will provide Bigfoot with the next-gen version of its FreeStyle Libre continuous […]