Blog

Category: Therapeutics

NodThera announces the appointment of Adam Keeney PhD as President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr Keeney joins NodThera with over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including most recently at Sanofi and prior to that at Johnson & Johnson

Cambridge, UK and Boston, MA, 24 September 2018. NodThera, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next generation NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors for the treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation, today announces the appointment of Adam Keeney PhD as President and Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Adam will join the NodThera Board of Directors and will also establish a new office for the Company in the Boston, MA area. Alan Watt, who has been Chief Scientific Officer and acting as interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company since its inception, will now resume his role as full-time CSO.

Dr Keeney has over 20 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He joins NodThera from Sanofi Genzyme, where he served as Global Head of Sanofi Genzyme Business Development. In this role, he was responsible for leading all of Sanofi Genzyme’s business development activities, including early and late stage deals, supporting each of Sanofi’s specialty care therapeutic areas which include Immunology, Neurology, Oncology, Rare Diseases and Rare Blood Disorders. Dr Keeney was also Chair of the internal governance body that oversaw the review, prioritisation and execution of all external R&D investments, as well as management of the external research budget.

Read more

Innovent Presents Clinical Data of Anti-PD-1 Antibody Sintilimab in Patients with Previously Treated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer at Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology

SUZHOU, China, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent), a world-class China-based biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes high quality drugs, today presented clinical research data on cohort C at the 2018 Annual Meeting of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO). The study is a phase Ib clinical trial (NCT02937116) in which NSCLC patients with disease progression failed from prior therapy were treated with sintilimab (a fully human anti-programmed cell death 1 monoclonal antibody).

37 patients who had progressed on at least one line of prior therapies were enrolled, and 34 patients have had at least one radiological assessment. Patients receiving sintilimab monotherapy enjoyed an objective response rate (ORR) of 17.6% based on irRECIST criteria, a median progression free survival (PFS) of 2.8 months, medium overall survival of 13.8 months and as of the medium follow-up time of 8.4 months.

Read more

CareStack™ Announces Completion of $16 Million Financing to Expand Cloud-Based Enterprise Platform for Dental Practices

Company Opens New Technology Development Office in the Cambridge Innovation Center

CELEBRATION, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CareStack™, a cloud-based technology platform for the dental industry, today announced it has completed $16 million in funding led by Accel, F-Prime Capital Partners, and Eight Roads Ventures. The company will use the funding to expand its unique cloud-based platform that is helping dental practices across the United States better connect patients, employers, and dentists. F-Prime Capital Partners’ Partner Carl Byers has joined CareStack’s Board of Directors along with Accel Partner Shekhar Kirani.

The Company also announced it has opened a new technology development office in the Cambridge Innovation Center, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This new office will help support CareStack’s existing global operations as well as bolster current product development projects and scale professional services capabilities.

Read more

Devoted Health Receives License from State of Florida

New Healthcare Company to Offer Medicare Advantage Plans in 2019

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Devoted Health announced today that it’s now licensed to offer Medicare Advantage Plans in the state of Florida. The healthcare company is approved to offer plans in eight counties across the state — Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, and Seminole. Starting in January 2019, Devoted will partner with some of the most trusted doctors and hospitals in Central and South Florida to serve Medicare members in those areas.

Devoted Health is on a mission to make healthcare more affordable, caring, and attentive. Leading the company’s Florida launch is health insurance industry veteran Dariel Quintana. As the company’s Florida market president, he is building a network of hand-picked doctors and providers who share a common goal — to create a more seamless, personal healthcare experience.

Read more

Hua Medicine Successfully Completes Initial Public Offering and Listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Hong Kong, September 14, 2018

Hua Medicine, a China-based drug development company with a focus on developing a global first-in-class oral drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, successfully completed its initial public offering, or IPO, and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The IPO priced at HK$8.28 per share, with a total offering size of 104,756,000 shares, before over-allotments, raising approximately HK$867 million with a market capitalization of approximately HK$8,710 million immediately after the IPO.

The Global Sponsors for the IPO were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and CLSA Capital Markets Limited, the Joint Bookrunners were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., CLSA Limited and UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and the Joint Lead Managers were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C, CLSA Limited, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) Limited.

Read more

Iora Health and Humana Expand Relationship to Provide More Humana Medicare Advantage Plan Members Access to Improved Care in Arizona, Georgia and Washington

BOSTON & LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Humana Medicare Advantage beneficiaries have additional access to high-impact, relationship-based primary care thanks to Iora Health and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) teaming up for the fifth year to add 10 additional Iora Primary Care practices to Humana’s Medicare Advantage Plan network in Arizona, Georgia and Washington.

Iora Health and Humana’s value-based relationship is already delivering on the promise to provide a high quality of care and service to older adults in Arizona, Colorado and Washington. This year, new practices are opening in Tacoma, Washington; Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; and, for the first time, Atlanta, Georgia.

The new practices provide patients with Humana Medicare Advantage access to Iora’s model of care that changes the way primary care is delivered. By investing more in preventive care, building robust care teams, focusing on health outcomes, increasing customer service and incorporating proprietary technology built to support this unique care, Iora is leading the charge to transform the industry. Iora Primary Care patients experience:

Read More

Innovent doses first patient in Phase III sintilimab trial for NSCLC

China-based biopharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics has dosed the first patient in the Phase III ORIENT-11 trial designed to evaluate sintilimab (IBI308) as first-line treatment for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The randomised, double-blinded, multicentre trial intends to study sintilimab or placebo along with pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment to advanced or ns-NSCLC patients in China.

The trial is currently treating patients with the study drug combination in four cycles, followed by a maintenance treatment of sintilimab or placebo in combination with pemetrexed until the first occurrence of disease progression, intolerable toxicity, withdrawal of consent, death, or other specified events of the trial.

Read more

Gilead Sciences and Precision BioSciences Announce Collaboration to Develop Therapies Against Hepatitis B Virus Using ARCUS Genome Editing

FOSTER CITY, Calif. & DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Precision BioSciences announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop therapies targeting the in vivo elimination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with Precision’s proprietary genome editing platform, ARCUS.

An estimated 257 million people are living with HBV infection around the world. Current HBV treatments suppress HBV viral replication but do not completely clear the virus. The presence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) enables HBV replication if treatment is stopped. Preliminary studies at Gilead using ARCUS nucleases to target HBV cccDNA in vitro have demonstrated significant activity against cccDNA and integrated HBV DNA in human hepatocytes.

“Gilead is committed to developing innovative therapies to achieve functional cure for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection,” said John McHutchison, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development at Gilead. “We are excited about the potential of genome editing and Precision’s ARCUS technology, which has demonstrated promising in vitro activity. We look forward to exploring this technology as an important component of our HBV cure research efforts.”

Read more

Unum Therapeutics to Present at Morgan Stanley 16th Annual Global Healthcare Conference

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unum Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: UMRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cellular immunotherapies based on its novel, universal Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR) technology platform, will present a corporate overview in a fireside chat with Charles Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, at the Morgan Stanley 16th Annual Global Healthcare Conference on Friday, September 14, 2018 at 9:20 a.m. ET in New York City.

The presentation will be webcast live, and available for replay on the “Events” section of Unum’s investor relations webpage (investors.unumrx.com/events) where it will be archived for approximately 90 days.

Read More

 

Innovent’s Anti-CD47 Antibody IBI188 Receives IND Approval in China

SUZHOU, China /PRNewswire/ — Innovent Biologics (Innovent), a world-class China-based biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes high quality drugs, today announced that its IND application for IBI188, a fully human anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody (mAb) drug candidate, has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA, formerly known as CFDA) for clinical trials. Innovent will launch several clinical trials based on this mAb drug to assess its safety and efficacy for multiple tumor types, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and ovarian cancer. This is the fourth IND approval the company has received this year, including anti-CTLA-4 mAb, anti-RANKL mAb, anti-OX40 mAb and anti-CD47 mAb.

As one of the key targets in the field of anti-tumor immunotherapy, CD47 is regarded by many experts to have the possibility of becoming the next “star” in the field of immuno-oncology following the ground-breaking success of PD1 / PD-L1 antibodies. The IND approval signals that Innovent’s discovery and development on CD47 has advanced IBI188 as a leading player for this target to enter into clinical development stage.

“Innovent, with a relentless focus on innovation and quality, has developed programs that are advancing into cutting edge drug development frontiers. We hope that through our efforts, we can advance the field of cancer treatment, provide better treatment options to increase patients’ survival rate and improve their quality of life,” said Michael Yu, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.

Read More