Cancer immunotherapy, exploiting the abilities of the immune system to treat cancer, is fast becoming the standard of care for many malignancies and offers the best hope for curing patients of their disease. For biotech investors, the prospect of curing cancer has led to an abundance of opportunities as more and more companies enter the…
BlueRock Is $225M Stem Cell Therapy Startup Funded By Bayer and Versant Ventures On December 14, 2016, VistaGen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VTGN) announced the company has sublicensed certain rights to its proprietary human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology platform to BlueRock Therapeutics, a newly formed joint venture between Bayer AG and Versant Ventures seeded with $225…
On December 7, 2016, the U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century Cures Act. President Obama said he plans to sign the bill into law as soon as it hits his desk. The Act, which is designed to facilitate FDA approval of new drugs and medical devices, is a major win for the Pharmaceutical and Medical…
Immunotherapy is intended to train and harness the body’s own immune system in order to recognize and target disease. Many approved immunotherapies are quickly becoming physicians best hope in the battle against cancer. While chemotherapy was once thought to be a breakthrough, immunotherapies have come to the forefront due to the targeted efficacy and less…
On November 29, 2016, Cerecor, Inc. (CERC) reported top-line results from a Phase 2 study examining CERC-301 as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of depression. The study failed to show a statistically significant separation from placebo. In fact, the placebo was superior to the 12 mg dose of CERC-301 using the Bech-6 subset of…
Sales of both medical marijuana and adult legal marijuana are soaring. Total marijuana sales in 2014 were less than $5 billion. A story in USAToday notes the number is expected to approach $23 billion in 2020 (1) due to decriminalization and the increasing recognition of its therapeutic utility within the medical community. Twenty-nine states plus…
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCLI) is a biopharmaceutical company developing adult stem cell therapies for a range of neurodegenerative diseases, with an initial focus on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The company has a proprietary technology that uses a novel differentiation protocol such that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are converted into neurotrophic factor-secreting cells (MSC-NTF cells,…
Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSEMKT: CANF) announced on November 1, 2016, that the company reached an agreement with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the final design of a global pivotal Phase 3 trial for its lead drug candidate, piclidenoson (formerly CF101), in the treatment of psoriasis. Can-Fite intends to initiate the Phase 3 trial in the…
Last week, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) released abstracts for the upcoming 58th Annual Meeting & Exposition to be held December 3-6, 2016 in San Diego, CA. Included as part of the release was abstract #4050 from Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT: ATNM). The abstract highlights the company’s Phase 1 clinical results with Actimab-A for the…
Valeritas Holdings, Inc. (VLRX) is a commercial-stage medical device company focused on developing innovative technologies to improve the health and quality of life for people with Type 2 diabetes. The company’s flagship product is called V-Go, and it is currently on the market in the U.S. V-Go is a small, wearable device designed for patients…