Updated: Novo Nordisk to buy MASH player Akero for $4.7B upfront
Novo Nordisk will spend $4.7 billion upfront in cash for Akero Therapeutics, a company with a single clinical-stage asset focused on the liver disease MASH. The Thursday acquisition is the first major...
View ArticleFerring to downsize by up to 500 staffers in move towards new ‘enterprise model’
Ferring Pharmaceuticals has shared plans to lay off up to 500 employees and tweak or relocate certain roles in a bid to boost company efficiency. The decades-old Swiss biotech, which has subsidiaries...
View ArticleFinnish researchers report success in mid-stage study of heart disease gene...
SEVILLE, SPAIN — Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland said a gene therapy for people with refractory angina, a form of chronic chest pain that persists despite treatment, was successful...
View ArticleAkero CEO is named chair of Expedition, which raised $165M for COPD drug from...
On the day that his MASH biotech disclosed a $4.7 billion exit to Novo Nordisk, Akero CEO Andrew Cheng was named the board chair at Expedition Therapeutics. The San Francisco biotech also disclosed a...
View ArticleXspray gets CRL over third-party production issues; Oxford Biomedica buys...
Welcome to Endpoints News’ manufacturing briefs, where we bring you essential news on new builds, collaborations, recalls and more. Xspray Pharma received a complete response letter for its leukemia...
View ArticleMammoth Biosciences plans first trial of triglyceride-lowering gene editing...
SEVILLE, SPAIN — Mammoth Biosciences, a biotech co-founded by Nobel laureate and CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, has revealed the first monkey data from its lead program, a gene editing therapy...
View ArticleOtsuka Precision Health buys maternal meditation platform Mindful Mamas
Otsuka Precision Health, a subsidiary of the drugmaker Otsuka that's focused on digital health, has acquired Mindful Mamas, a maternal mental wellness startup offering meditation, Endpoints News has...
View ArticleChinese biotechs work on cheaper alternatives to $2M Zolgensma
When Nirnay Murthy learned about a treatment for his toddler son’s rare condition, relief quickly gave way to disappointment. A one-time gene therapy called Zolgensma from the Swiss drugmaker Novartis...
View ArticleWhat's behind Amazon’s in-person pharmacy play
Yesterday, Amazon said it will start setting up machines that can dispense prescription medication at its One Medical clinics. It’s not a new piece of technology (in fact, it's basically ...
View ArticleFormer Moderna leaders raise $325M for biotech venture firm Ascenta Capital
Two former Moderna executives started building a biotech venture firm in 2023, and now that firm, known as Ascenta Capital, has unveiled a $325 million closing of its inaugural fund. ...
View ArticleAviadoBio, UgeneX Therapeutics ink up to $413M deal; Apogee’s $300M stock sale
Plus, news about Regeneron and Phagos: 👁️ AviadoBio gets an option deal for eye gene therapy: The company is partnering with UgeneX Therapeutics on a therapy called UGX-202, with AviadoBio getting ...
View ArticleAstraZeneca breaks ground on Virginia plant after Trump warns drugmakers to...
AstraZeneca is breaking ground on a multibillion-dollar API facility in Albemarle County, VA, making it the latest company to start building after President Donald Trump threatened 100% tariffs on...
View ArticleEvommune files for IPO to fund two Phase 2 autoimmune drugs
Biotech IPOs appear to be making a comeback. Autoimmune biotech Evommune on Thursday became the latest company to flash its IPO plans, filing its prospectus to go public on the New ...
View ArticleAltos Labs is testing anti-aging therapies in organs kept alive outside the body
SEVILLE, SPAIN — Altos Labs has raised billions of dollars and hunted university departments for star researchers to develop therapies that delay or rewind aging. But the four-year-old startup has said...
View ArticleSamsara BioCapital eyes $200M opportunity fund
Samsara BioCapital, an investment firm that has backed dozens of life sciences companies, is aiming to raise up to $200 million for its opportunity fund, according to an SEC filing. ...
View ArticleYpsomed spends $248M to gain its first US manufacturing site
The Swiss company Ypsomed is buying a 15,000-square-meter factory in Holly Springs, NC, as President Donald Trump continues to pressure drugmakers to move manufacturing to the US. The drug delivery...
View ArticleShape's former CSO picks up tech role at Moderna; Lilly reels in Peter Marks
→ Recently departed Shape Therapeutics chief scientific officer David Huss has stepped into the chief technology role for Moderna’s research unit. He had served ...
View ArticleBristol Myers joins in vivo CAR-T race with $1.5B Orbital acquisition
Bristol Myers Squibb is delving further into cell therapies with the $1.5 billion cash purchase of Orbital Therapeutics, the New Jersey pharma said Friday morning. The move positions BMS in the ...
View ArticleFrench non-profit bets on Duchenne gene therapy that comes in lower dose than...
Genethon's latest data suggest its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy helped stabilize functional outcomes after two years. However, the trial enrolled only five patients, who were then compared...
View ArticleSatellos to run a trial for Duchenne pill in kids; Idorsia raises $81M
Plus, news about Quoin and OS Therapies: 🧬 Satellos to test Duchenne pill in kids: The company on Friday reported results in five adult patients who received its experimental Duchenne muscular ...
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