As reported by Robert Weisman in The Boston Globe, following a report that Burlington-based Flexion Therapeutics is negotiating a sale to French drug giant Sanofi, Flexion shares rose more than 33 percent. Spokeswomen for Sanofi and Flexion — which has a promising knee pain drug up before US regulators — declined to comment. The purchase […]

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Bavencio (avelumab) for the treatment of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). This is the first FDA-approved treatment for metastatic MCC, a rare, aggressive form of skin cancer, and EMD Serono’s first cancer drug launch. The drug has been approved for adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older, […]

As reported by Robert Weisman in The Boston Globe, Biogen’s patent on its top-selling multiple sclerosis treatment, Tecfidera, was upheld by a legal ruling in which the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected a challenge by Texas hedge fund manager Kyle Bass. Bass has been working for years to invalidate key intellectual property rights […]

Waltham-based Arrakis Therapeutics has completed a $38 million Series A financing led by Canaan Partners with participation by Pfizer, Celgene, and biotech industry leader Henri Termeer, among others. Arrakis was founded with a vision to create a proprietary, transformational discovery platform that identifies small-molecule drugs that act directly on disease-causing RNA.  The company was established […]

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire CTP-656 from Lexington-based Concert Pharmaceuticals. CTP-656 is an investigational cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) potentiator that has the potential to assist in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF). As part of the agreement, Vertex will pay Concert $160 million in cash for worldwide development and commercialization […]