Compass raises $80M to take magic mushroom drug toward phase 3

Compass Pathways has raised $80 million to prepare its psilocybin therapy for phase 3 development. The London-based biotech is advancing the drug, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, for use in people with treatment-resistant depression. Psilocybin was studied in the 1960s, but research ground to a halt over the following decades. Teams at academic centers including the […]

Marketing COVID-19 is bad news for new drug launches. Which will suffer most?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing societal countermeasures are upending operations in many sectors—and biopharma isn’t immune. The current lockdown is not only hurting clinical trial enrollment but also delaying regulatory timelines for drugs nearing a decision. And with tried-and-true, in-person marketing techniques no longer allowed, new launches may also feel the pain—or hold off altogether. Consider Bristol […]

Novartis, life sciences firms collaborate with BMGF to fight against COVID-19 disease

Novartis and a consortium of life sciences companies have collaborated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to advance the development, manufacture and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19, the disease resulted due to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, […]

UPDATED: Biogen staffer fled to China in search of emergency Covid-19 testing, care — and now faces criminal charges

A Biogen employee who has contracted Covid-19 in Massachusetts fled to Beijing alongside her family. And now she faces criminal charges for lying about her condition on the way back. The company confirmed to Endpoints News that the woman, identified by Chinese officials as Ms. Li, works for the company but said she didn’t attend the strategy […]

Major cancer institute sued by its own researchers over ‘tapering’ funding

Alleging that a leading cancer funder is slashing their support in an “unethical and reckless” way, six prominent cancer researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have filed a lawsuit to compel it to continue its current level of support. The suit, filed quietly in November 2019 and amended last week, contends that the […]

BrainStorm CEO to Provide Company Update at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference

NEW YORK, Feb. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BCLI), a leading developer of autologous cellular therapies for highly debilitating neurodegenerative diseases, announced today that Chaim Lebovits, CEO and President, will provide an update of the Company’s ALS and MS trials and company growth strategy at The BIO CEO & Investor Conference, being held […]

The Medicines Company Enters Into Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Novartis AG for $9.7 billion

– The Medicines Company to be acquired by Novartis AG for $85 per share in cash, representing 45% premium to its unaffected share price and a 57% premium to its unaffected one-week average price – Inclisiran, The Medicines Company’s investigational, innovative, potent twice-annual therapy to lower LDL cholesterol, has potential to transform treatment of cardiovascular […]