bluebird bio and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals have announced a collaboration to apply their respective technology platforms to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel immune cell therapies for cancer. The collaborators will specifically leverage Regeneron’s VelociSuite® platform technologies for the discovery and characterization of fully human antibodies, as well as T cell receptors (TCRs) directed against […]

Biogen and its partner Eisai have announced positive topline results from the Phase II study with anti-amyloid beta protofibril antibody BAN2401 in 856 patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. The study achieved statistical significance on key predefined endpoints evaluating efficacy at 18 months on slowing progression in Alzheimer’s Disease Composite Score or ADCOMS, a measure of […]

Pfizer has announced it will organize the company into three businesses: a science-based Innovative Medicines business which will now include biosimilars and a new hospital business unit for anti-infectives and sterile injectables; an off-patent branded and generic Established Medicines business operating with substantial autonomy within Pfizer and a Consumer Healthcare business. These changes will be […]

Otsuka Pharmaceutical, headquartered in Tokyo, and Waltham-based Visterra have announced that Otsuka will acquire Visterra for approximately $430M in an all-cash transaction. The Otsuka and Visterra boards of directors have approved the transaction which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Visterra’s Hierotope platform, comprised of novel computational and experimental technologies, enables […]

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has announced that biotech company Rubius Therapeutics is planning to establish a manufacturing facility in Rhode Island that will create 160 high-skilled jobs in manufacturing, biotech operations and other support functions. Rubius intends to invest up to $155 million over a more than five-year period to renovate a 135,000-square-foot manufacturing […]

Akebia Therapeutics and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (based in Cambridge and Boston, respectively) have announced a definitive merger agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger. The transaction will create a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company called Akebia Therapeutics focused on chronic kidney disease (CKD), with an implied pro forma equity value of approximately $1.3 […]

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Bayer are launching the Precision Cardiology Laboratory (PCL), a new endeavor that will pursue scientific insights aimed at developing new therapies for heart failure. According to the American Heart Association, more than 900,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure every year in the United States. The condition, […]