The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council today announced that 164 CEOs representing the breadth of the life sciences have signed its Open Letter 2.0 – The CEO Pledge for a More Equitable and Inclusive Life Sciences Industry. This pledge serves as a call to action for CEOs across the life sciences to create change within their respective […]

Cambridge-based startups Korro Bio and Casma Therapeutics have secured financing of $91.5 million and $50 million, respectively, in recent funding rounds. Both companies were launched in 2018. The funding will enable Korro to advance its novel platform for precise, single-base, RNA editing to modulate protein function for therapeutic applications, including advancing its lead program to […]

As America’s researchers race to develop the scientific solutions needed to eradicate COVID-19, leaders within the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) released an open letter to their biopharmaceutical colleagues that articulates key principles to ensure the “integrity, transparency, and objective assessment” of COVID-19 clinical data and secure public trust in new medical products developed in response to the […]

The CEOs of AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer and Sanofi have signed a historic pledge, outlining a united commitment to uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first COVID-19 vaccines. All nine CEOs signed the following pledge: We, […]

The FDA has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Abbott’s BinaxNOW rapid antigen test for detection of COVID-19 infection. The $5 test is highly portable, affordable and provides results in 15 minutes. It uses proven Abbott lateral flow technology, making it a reliable and familiar format for frequent mass testing by healthcare providers. Abbott will ship […]

Takeda has entered into an agreement to divest Takeda Consumer Healthcare Company (TCHC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Takeda focused on the consumer health care market primarily in Japan, to a company controlled by funds managed by The Blackstone Group for a total value of 2.3 billion USD. The transaction is expected to close by March […]

The FDA has approved Foundation Medicine’s comprehensive pan-tumor liquid biopsy test, Called FoundationOne Liquid CDx. Using a blood sample, the test analyzes over 300 cancer-related genes for alterations. Results are delivered in an integrated report that identifies alterations matched to FDA-approved therapies and delivers information about the genomic signatures microsatellite instability and blood tumor mutational […]

Momenta Pharmaceuticals has agreed to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $52.50 per share in an all-cash transaction, implying a fully-diluted equity value of $6.5 billion. The agreement was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both Momenta and Johnson & Johnson. “The agreement with J&J recognizes the value created by years of […]

Sanofi and San Francisco-based Principia Biopharma have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sanofi will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Principia for $100 per share in cash, which represents an aggregate equity value of approximately $3.68 billion (on a fully diluted basis). Principia Biopharma is a late-stage biopharma focused on developing treatments […]

Gilead Sciences and Cambridge-based Tango Therapeutics have announced an expanded strategic collaboration focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative targeted immune evasion therapies for patients with cancer. Under the expanded multi-year collaboration, which builds on an agreement signed in 2018, Tango will continue to leverage its proprietary, CRISPR-enabled functional genomics target discovery platform […]