Waltham-based Deciphera Pharmaceuticals has announced it is being acquired by Japan’s ONO Pharmaceutical Company for $2.4 billion. Deciphera is focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing new cancer medicines and brings specialized R&D and development capabilities in kinase drug discovery, well-established commercial and sales platforms in the United States and Europe, and global clinical development capabilities. The acquisition is […]

Vertex has announced it plans to acquire Seattle biotech Alpine Immune Sciences for $65 per share or approximately $4.9 billion in cash. Alpine is focused on discovering and developing innovative, protein-based immunotherapies. The transaction was unanimously approved by both the Vertex and Alpine Boards of Directors and is anticipated to close later this quarter. Alpine’s […]

Watertown clinical-stage biopharma Neumora Therapeutics’ Phase 1 trial of NMRA-266 has been placed on clinical hold by the FDA based on pre-clinical data showing convulsions in rabbits. Approximately 30 participants have been dosed in the Phase 1 study, with no evidence of convulsions observed in any participant. “We are disappointed with the unanticipated safety findings […]

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals has started a process with the FDA and Health Canada to voluntarily discontinue the marketing authorizations for its ALS drug and immediately remove the product from the market in both the U.S. and Canada. The drug is sold under the name Relyvrio in the U.S.and is also known as AMX0035. The decision is […]

Clinical-stage biotherapeutics company PureTech Health has launched Seaport Therapeutics with $100 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing. Seaport will focus on development of a pipeline of neuropsychiatric medicines created and initially developed at PureTech. Following the Series A financing, PureTech will hold equity ownership in Seaport of 61.5 percent on a diluted basis. Seaport […]

Moderna recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences to advance the company’s flu program. As part of the agreement, Blackstone will fund up to $750 million with a return based on cumulative commercial milestones and low-single digit royalties. Influenza leads to 3-5 million severe cases of flu and 290,000-650,000 […]

Bedford biotech Stoke Therapeutics expects gross proceeds from its public offering of shares to reach $125 million. The offering is expected to close on or about April 2, 2024. Stoke is focused on addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines. Using its proprietary approach, the company is developing antisense […]

Orchard Therapeutics has received FDA approval for gene therapy Lenmeldy for the treatment of children with early-onset MLD, a rare and life-threatening inherited disease of the body’s metabolic system caused by a genetic mutation. The one-time, potentially life-saving treatment will carry a list price of $4.25 million, making the treatment the most-expensive ever approved according […]

AstraZeneca is buying Canadian clinical-stage biopharma Fusion Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to $2.4 billion. The acquisition of Fusion, a developer of radioconjugates (RCs) for cancer treatment, marks a major step forward in AstraZeneca’s goal to replace traditional cancer treatment regimens like chemotherapy and radiotherapy with more targeted treatments. RCs have emerged as a […]

Governor Healey has announced that she is reauthorizing the Life Sciences Initiative that has made Massachusetts a global leader in life sciences. The initiative proposes reauthorizing the Life Sciences Initiative at $1 billion for 10 years and will be included in the administration’s upcoming economic development bill, called the Mass Leads Act, which will require passage […]