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WuXi PharmaTech Receives 2015 Asian CRO Company of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan

WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:  WX), a leading open-access R&D capability and technology platform company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, today announced that it has received the 2015 Asian CRO Company of the Year award from Frost & Sullivan, a leading business research and consulting firm. The award is part of the Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Best Practices Awards series, recognizing companies in Asia Pacific that demonstrate outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.

 

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Kensho Technologies Inc. Honored by Goldman Sachs for Entrepreneurship – Daniel Nadler Among 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at 2015 Builders + Innovators Summit

Goldman Sachs is recognizing Kensho Technologies Inc. CEO Daniel Nadler as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2015 at its Builders + Innovators Summit in Santa Barbara, California.

Goldman Sachs selected Nadler as one of 100 entrepreneurs from multiple industries to be honored at the two-day event. Nadler is active in several fields: In addition to Kensho, Nadler is the Director of Research for Financial Technology atStanford University’s School of Engineering. He completed his PhD at Harvard University. Nadler previously served as a Visiting Scholar at the United States Federal Reserve. In addition to being an entrepreneur and a scholar, Nadler is a poet whose work has been widely published in leading American literary journals. His debut collection of poetry, Lacunae, is forthcoming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2016.

 

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Procured Health Announces Johns Hopkins Health System As New Client

Procured Health (Procured), a provider of data-driven technology aimed at improving patient care and eliminating wasteful spending, announced today that The Johns Hopkins Health System (Johns Hopkins), has selected the company’s IntelligencePRO™ and EvaluationPRO™ solutions. Johns Hopkins Health System will be incorporating the solutions into their clinical product evaluation process to facilitate more rigorous clinical spend management and enhance quality of care.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Johns Hopkins is a $7.7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the United States. The health system operates six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, and 39 primary and specialty care outpatient sites. It has been ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 22 years, most recently in 2013.

 

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Aclaris Therapeutics International and Rigel Sign License Agreement for JAK Inhibitors to Treat Skin Disorders

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Aclaris Therapeutics International Limited (ATIL), and Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement for the development and commercialization of Rigel’s JAK inhibitor compounds for the treatment of alopecia areata and other dermatological conditions.

Under the license agreement, ATIL has agreed to assume responsibility for the continued development of specified Rigel JAK inhibitor compounds for the treatment of alopecia areata and other dermatological conditions. ATIL has also agreed to make an upfront payment of $8 million to Rigel, as well as make various milestone payments and tiered royalties on any future sales of these compounds.

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Aclaris Therapeutics Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $11.00 per share. The shares have been approved for listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market and are expected to begin trading under the ticker symbol “ACRS” on October 7, 2015. All of the common stock is being offered by Aclaris. In addition, Aclaris has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional shares of common stock at the initial public offering price. The offering is expected to close on October 13, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.

Jefferies LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is acting as a co-manager.

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Proteostasis Therapeutics Announces Presentation of Data For Its CFTR Amplifier for Cystic Fibrosis

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. (PTI), a company that develops disease-modifying therapeutics for diseases involving protein processing, recently announced at a presentation during the 29th Annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference data on itstransmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) amplifier program for use in combined treatments for patients with cystic fibrosis(CF).

In Proteostasis’ presentation entitled “CFTR Amplifiers Are a New Class of CFTR Modulators,” the company demonstrated an increase in CFTR modulating activity in human bronchial epithelial (hBE) cells when its composites were used as single therapies, as well as results that these composites are able to further enhance CFTR when utilized as a combined treatment with the currently available clinical-stage correctors.

 

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Ultragenyx Announces Aceneuramic Acid Prolonged Release Marketing Authorization Application Filed and Accepted for Review by European Medicines Agency

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases, today announced it has successfully filed a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for aceneuramic acid prolonged release (Ace-ER; UX001) tablets intended for patients with GNE Myopathy. Ace-ER is designed to replace the deficient sialic acid substrate in patients with GNE Myopathy, also known as Hereditary Inclusion Body Myopathy (HIBM), a rare, progressive muscle-wasting disease.

“We have reached an important milestone for both Ultragenyx and patients living with GNE Myopathy,” said Emil D. Kakkis, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ultragenyx. “It is the company’s first filing for marketing approval, just five years after its founding, and the first marketing application of a potential treatment for patients affected by this progressive debilitating muscle disease.”

Ultragenyx is seeking to obtain conditional approval from the EMA for Ace-ER for the treatment of adult patients with GNE Myopathy. The MAA submission is based on positive data from a Phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. If a positive opinion is received from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), a decision from the European Commission would be expected in the second half of 2016.

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Collaboration for Alzheimer’s Prevention: An Initiative to Advance Alzheimer’s Disease Research

In a recent paper published in the Nature Reviews in Neurology journal, a team of US researchers discussed the current challenges, opportunities and emerging evaluation methods in preclinical Alzheimer disease treatments, describing a convergent initiative to improve Alzheimer disease prevention research coined as Collaboration for Alzheimer’s Prevention.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is progressive disorder affecting brain neurons, and is the most common cause of dementia. At the moment, this devastating illness has no cure and imposes a heavy burden to patients, caregivers and society. Studies have showed that specific medications, dietary supplements and lifestyle attitudes might potentially reduce the risk of developing AD. Nonetheless, the complete implications of these preventive measures have not been adequately assessed so far. Clinical studies evaluating the effects of AD prevention strategies in at-risk individuals without cognitive impairment are of enormous public benefit.

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Flywire acquires UK-based tuition start-up competitor

International tuition payments startup Flywire is expanding its overseas footprint.

Boston-based Flywire says it has acquired Uni-Pay, a similar business based in the UK. Uni-Pay’s six employees will join Flywire.

Flywire’s online service works like a wire transfer, letting people use their local currency to pay tuition at international schools. Flywire says that it saves students money on those transfers because it bundles payments and negotiates lower ­currency exchange rates with banks.

With the acquisition, Flywire said it works with more than 800 schools in 12 countries. The company says it processed $1 billion in payments during the 2014-2015 school year, and expects that to double this year.

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peerTransfer expands, rebrands as Flywire

Global payment solutions company peerTransfer is rebranding as Flywire and expanding its US and European operations, after seeing its payment volume and revenue double in the last year.

The company hopes its change will better reflect its role in order to build brand recognition and trust among its client base.

“We want to be the brand that international citizens trust for large cross-border payments – in education and beyond,” a spokesperson told The PIE News.

The company has also opened new US headquarters in Boston, and has relocated its office in Valencia, Spain to double capacity.

“The office expansions in Boston and Spain help us address the rapid growth we’ve experienced in our existing business the last six months and also give us the room to capitalise on additional growth opportunities in education as well as other adjacent markets that require large, cross-border payments,” the spokesperson said.

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