Cambridge-based Beam Therapeutics has entered into an exclusive four-year research collaboration with Pfizer focused on in vivo base editing programs for three targets for rare genetic diseases of the liver, muscle and central nervous system.  The base editing programs to be evaluated as part of the collaboration will leverage Beam’s proprietary in vivo delivery technologies, which use messenger RNA (mRNA) […]

Moderna has announced that the first participant has been dosed in its Phase 1 study of mRNA-1189, the company’s Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) vaccine candidate. Said Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, “The start of this Phase 1 study is a significant milestone as we continue to advance mRNA vaccines against latent viruses, which remain in the body […]

Biogen has announced that it will cut the price of its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm in the U.S. by about half, bringing the yearly cost of the maintenance dose to $28,200 per patient. Biogen is taking this action with the goal of lowering out-of-pocket expenses for patients and reducing the potential financial implications for the U.S. […]

Foghorn Therapeutics and Loxo Oncology at Lilly, a research and development group of Eli Lilly, have entered into a strategic collaboration to create novel oncology medicines by applying Foghorn’s proprietary Gene Traffic Control platform, a tool for understanding and modulating the chromatin regulatory system which regulates gene expression by directing the movement of molecules that […]

Blueprint Medicines will acquire San Diego-based Lengo Therapeutics, a privately held precision oncology company, for $250 million in cash plus up to $215 million in additional potential payments based on the achievement of certain regulatory approval and sales-based milestones. Lengo Therapeutics is developing novel, small molecule precision therapeutics that target driver mutations in oncology. The company’s initial focus is […]

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from a small, Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) study of investigational drug VX-147 in patients with APOL1-mediated kidney disease. Based on these data, Vertex plans to advance VX-147 into pivotal development in Q1 2022 as a potential first-in-class therapy for the more than 100,000 patients with kidney disease mediated by […]

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of investigational ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapeutics, is being acquired by Danish drug giant Novo Nordisk for $38.25 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of $3.3 billion and a premium of 80% to Dicerna’s closing price on November 17, 2021. Dicerna’s RNAi technology platform enables access to […]

Pfizer is seeking Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its investigational oral antiviral candidate, Paxlovid (PF-07321332; ritonavir), for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients at increased risk of hospitalizations or death. If authorized or approved, Paxlovid would be the first oral antiviral of its kind, a 3CL protease inhibitor specifically designed to combat […]

Moderna and Metagenomi, have entered into a strategic R&D collaboration focused on advancing new gene editing systems for in vivo human therapeutic applications. The collaboration will utilize Metagenomi’s novel gene editing tools and leverage Moderna’s mRNA platform, as well as lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technologies, with the goal of developing curative therapies for patients with serious genetic diseases. […]

Cambridge-based Generate Biomedicines has raised $370 Million in a Series B financing to advance the development of its machine learning-powered drug generation platform. The Generate platform can rapidly generate antibodies, peptides, enzymes, cell and gene therapies to meet any therapeutic need. This approach enables Generate to create previously impossible therapeutics and to do so with unprecedented speed and […]