Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:VRTX) announced today that it agreed to acquire ViaCyte for $320 million. San Diego-based ViaCyte develops an advanced portfolio of novel stem cell-derived replacement therapies designed to provide a functional cure for patients with type 1 diabetes. Boston-based Vertex develops its own similar therapeutic for diabetes, having designed its VX-880 as a stem […]
Stem Cells
FDA grants breakthrough nod to Zetagen’s metastatic bone cancer treatment
Zetagen Therapeutics announced today that it received FDA breakthrough device designation for its ZetaMet cancer treatment technology. Syracuse, New York-based Zetagen designed its ZetaMet (previously known as ZetaFuse) as a synthetic, small-molecule, inductive biologic technology for targeting and resolving metastatic bone lesions while inhibiting future tumor growth and regenerating bone. According to a news release, […]
Magenta Therapeutics rises on Street-beating Q4
Magenta Therapeutics (NSDQ:MGTA) shares ticked up today on fourth-quarter earnings that topped the consensus forecast. The Cambridge, Mass.-based stem cell transplantation technology developer posted losses of -$18.2 million, or -38¢ per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2020, marking a 21.8% bottom-line gain. Magenta’s earnings per share of -38¢ came in 3¢ ahead […]
Frequency Therapeutics registers $100m IPO
Frequency Therapeutics has registered an initial public offering of common stock worth $100 million. Woburn, Mass.-based Frequency Therapeutics did not disclose the number of shares it seeks to sell or the price range of the offered units. The company applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission have its common stock listed on The Nasdaq Global […]
AxoSim touts results of nerve-on-a-chip study
A new study of AxoSim’s Nerve-on-a-Chip technology shows that the platform accurately provides key physiological readouts that could help speed the development of drugs to treat neurological disorders. The study also shows that Nerve-on-a-Chip technology is the first all-human in vitro model that can measure critical factors that were formerly only available using live animal models. […]
Anika collabs to develop injectable stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis
Anika Therapeutics (NSDQ:ANIK) has inked an agreement with the Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool to develop an injectable mesenchymal stem cell therapy to treat osteoarthritis. As a result of the three-year research collaboration, the group hopes to have a lead candidate that it can take into clinical trials. “We are very excited […]
Semma Therapeutics closes $114m round to advance cell therapy for Type I diabetes
Semma Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed $114 million Series B round to help fund the development of its encapsulated stem cell-derived islet therapy for Type I diabetes. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company reported that it plans to use the newly-acquired funds to bring its cell therapy through clinical proof-of-concept studies, as well as explore other regenerative […]
Researchers reverse diabetes in mice by infusing them with blood stem cells
Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital successfully reversed Type I diabetes in a mouse model using blood stem cells, according to a study published this week in Science Translational Medicine. The researchers used cells that were pre-treated to make more of a protein, PD-L1, which is deficient in mice and people with Type I diabetes. “There’s really […]
BrainStorm enrolls first ALS patient in late-stage NurOwn trial
Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (NSDQ:BCLI) said today that the first patients have been enrolled in its Phase III trial evaluating NurOwn as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, at Massachusetts General Hospital and UC Irvine Medical Center. The trial, which is slated to enroll 200 patients, is designed to include the pre-specified patient subgroups who […]
FDA intervenes after stem cell center offers unproven treatment to cancer patients
The FDA is cracking down on stem cell clinics that administer unproven and potentially dangerous treatments to patients, citing a California-based clinic that the regulatory watchdog said was treating cancer patients with the smallpox vaccine. Last week, the U.S. Marshals Service seized five vials of a vaccine that is reserved only for people at high […]
