With a $32 million loan in hand, AgaMatrix said this week it plans to reorganize the companies into two entities – AgaMatrix, Inc. and WaveForm Technologies. The holding company raised $32 million from Prospect Capital Corp. and said it will use the funds to support sales and marketing, product development and clinical trial activities for its […]
Pharmaceuticals
PanOptica raises $11m for wet-AMD eye drops
Privately-held biopharma PanOptica said today that it raised $11 million in a Series B round to fund the clinical advancement of its anti-VEGF eye drop for the treatment of neovascular eye diseases. The funding, led by Third Rock Ventures and SV Health Investors, will support a Phase I/II study of a new formulation of PAN-90806 […]
Titan, Opiant partner to develop subcutaneous implant for opioid use disorder
Titan Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:TTNP) and Opiant Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:OPNT) announced this week that the companies are partnering to develop a subcutaneous implant to deliver an opioid antagonist. The pair said they plan to conduct a feasibility assessment of such an implant using Titan’s ProNeura sustained release technology. The goal of their collaboration is to devise a way to […]
Nanopatch tops needles, syringes as delivery system for polio vaccine in animal study
A microscopic vaccine delivery platform developed by researchers at the University of Queensland has proven a more effective way to deliver a polio virus vaccine compared to needles and syringes in an animal model. “Polio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century, resulting in limb disfigurement and irreversible paralysis in […]
KemPharm partners to develop therapy for kids with Tourette’s syndrome and ADHD
KemPharm (NSDQ:KMPH) said yesterday that it inked a technology licensing and assignment deal with Genco Sciences to develop a treatment for kids with Tourette’s syndrome and ADHD. Genco has won orphan designation from the FDA for its pediatric Tourette’s syndrome product candidate. KemPharm said it plans to use Genco’s nanoparticulate amphetamine technology to develop a prodrug […]
Inovio touts first-in-man Ph1 trial of Zika virus vaccine
Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:INO) touted today positive safety and immune response data from the first-in-man Phase I trial of its vaccine against the Zika virus. The trial showed that Inovio’s DNA-based vaccine triggered high levels of binding antibodies in all 40 participants. The team also reported observing a strong neutralizing antibody and T-cell immune response in vaccinated […]
Pavmed to drop 510(k), pursue de novo pathway for PortIO infusion system
Pavmed Inc. (NSDQ:PAVM) plans to drop the 510(k) application for its PortIO intraosseous infusion system and instead pursue a de novo pathway for its device, according to a document the company filed with the SEC yesterday. The move is based on a recommendation from the FDA, the company said. The company’s 510(k) relied upon substantial equivalence […]
How the CDC’s recommendation against the nasal spray flu vaccine affected vaccine rates
Flu vaccine rates in kids dropped slightly during last year’s influenza season, according to a study from the Penn State College of Medicine, and it may be partly due to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against the nasal spray vaccine, FluMist. When the nasal spray vaccine was first approved in […]
Drug printing tech could enable pharmacies to make custom medications
Researchers at the University of Michigan have devised a way to print precise, pure doses of drugs onto a dissolvable strip, microneedle patch or dosing device, according to a study published in Nature Communications. The technology could one day allow pharmacies and hospitals to print custom-dosed medications for patients and boost drug development among researchers, the […]
Eli Lilly’s Humalog Junior KwikPen diabetes drug-device combo launches in U.S.
Eli Lilly‘s (NYSE:LLY) Humalog Junior KwikPen insulin lispro injection is available in the U.S. by prescription for people with diabetes, the company said today. The drug-device combination product is designed as a pre-filled, disposable half-unit insulin pen. The Humalog Junior KwikPen won FDA approval in June this year and earlier last month, a European Medicines […]