Impel NeuroPharma Inc. said today that it closed a $36 million series C financing round to fund its pipeline of precision olfactory delivery (POD) intranasal devices. Life science firms venBIO, 5AM Ventures and Vivo Capital made investments in the round. Seattle-based Impel will get $21 million upfront and $15 million after it reaches development and […]
Neurological
Intec Pharma inks deal with Michael J. Fox Foundation for patient recruitment
Intec Pharma (NSDQ:NTEC) said today that it inked a deal with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to support the biopharmaceutical company’s patient recruitment and retention for its pivotal phase III trial. The study will evaluate Intec Pharma’s lead candidate, the “accordion pill” carbidopa/levodopa (AP-CD/LD), as a treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson’s […]
Allergan expands neurological portfolio with $125m Chase Pharmaceuticals buy
Allergan (NYSE:AGN) said today that it acquired Chase Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment of $125 million, expanding the Dublin-based company’s neurological portfolio. Washington, D.C.-based Chase is developing a combination therapy of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and a cholinergic blocker in the hopes of improving cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitors available on the […]
SanBio touts 1-year data on stem cell transplant for stroke
SanBio Inc. (TYO:4592) released 1-year interim data from the phase 1/2a, open-label, single-arm dose escalation study of its intracerebral stem cell implant designed for stroke patients. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company touted the results, which indicated that itsSB623 stem cell treatment was generally safe, well-tolerated and associated with improved motor functions in patients suffering with chronic impairment following […]
FDA awards product development grants for rare diseases
The FDA said yesterday that it awarded 21 clinical trial research grants totaling more than $23 million over the next 4 years to stimulate product development for patients with rare diseases. The Orphan Products Clinical Trials Grants Program has awarded more than $370 million to fund more than 590 clinical studies since its creation in […]
Real-time MRI in stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s
Researchers have observed that using intraoperative real-time MRI to guide induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons into the brains of non-human primates modeled with Parkinson’s disease yields better visualization and increased cell survival. The study, which will be published in the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair issue of Cell Transplantation, was conducted at the Wisconsin National Primate Research […]
Novocure enrolls 1st patient in Phase III brain metastases trial
Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) said that the 1st patient has been enrolled in a Phase III pivotal trial of its tumor-treating field technology in combination with radiosurgery to treat brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer. The St. Helier, N.J.-based company’s tumor treating fields (TTFields) are low-intensity, intermediate-frequency, alternating electric fields designed to disrupt cell division within cancer cells. Novocure’s commercial product, Optune, […]
Microchip imaging platform for roundworms could accelerate research
Researchers developed a microchip imaging platform to image-analyze thousands of roundworms simultaneously, according to the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. This is the 1st large-scale, in vivo drug discovery platform using a whole animal model, the school reported. The study, published in Nature Communications, detailed a flexible, cellphone-sized chip with […]
DelMar, Accurexa ink deal for chemotherapy combo
DelMar Pharmaceuticals and Accurexa said today that they inked a deal to collaborate on a combination chemotherapy for local treatment of brain cancer. The agreement calls for DelMar to supply the drug dianhydrogalactitol (VAL-083) as part of a combination with another chemotherapeutic, either temozolomide or carmustine, for local delivery to the tumor via Accurexa’s ACX-31 implantable […]