Today Stories

Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which it will acquire BeneVir Biopharm, Inc. (BeneVir), a privately-held, biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of oncolytic immunotherapies.  BeneVir utilizes a proprietary T-Stealth™ Oncolytic Virus Platform to engineer oncolytic viruses, tailored to infect and destroy cancer cells.  Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC facilitated the transaction.     "Oncolytic viral immunotherapy holds exciting potential in the treatment of solid tumors through the priming and augmenting of an anti-tumor immune response," said Peter Lebowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncolo…

Novanta Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVT), a trusted technology partner to medical and advanced technology equipment manufacturers, announced today that it has acquired privately-held Zettlex Holdings Limited ("Zettlex"). Zettlex, based in Cambridge, England, provides original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") with inductive encoders that can provide absolute and accurate positioning even in extreme operating environments.  Zettlex has approximately 40 employees and won the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2017 and for International Trade in 2018.  Zettlex has grown rapidly as the result of strong demand for their compact, accurate, lightweight and robust position sensors.  Zettlex was founded by Darran Kreit and Mark Howard, who have agreed to remain with the business, and Zettlex will op…

DNA Diagnostics Center® (DDC® or the Company), one of the world's largest private DNA testing companies, announces the acquisition of ContraVac, Inc., a global leader in male reproductive health. ContraVac, Inc., based in Charlottesville, VA, markets SpermCheck® Fertility, SpermCheck® Vasectomy and FertileCheck® Fertility Gel.  The SpermCheck® brand of products, developed by ContraVac, is the first FDA-approved immunoassay home-diagnostic test to measure sperm count. Introduced in 2011, SpermCheck® Fertility tests if a man has a fertile or sub-fertile sperm count, and is currently sold nationwide in Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Amazon, and internationally in major retailers. SpermCheck® Vasectomy is the only test designed specifically for men to test the success of their vasectomy…

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the close of its acquisition of NxThera. The company developed the Rezum® system, a minimally invasive therapy (MIT) for patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). With the completion of the acquisition, NxThera will become part of the Boston Scientific Urology and Pelvic Health business. "We are confident in the potential for this system to help patients with BPH and increase the number of men choosing MITs, because it offers long-term relief from symptoms without the side effects of medications," said Dave Pierce, executive vice president and president, MedSurg, Boston Scientific. "The minimally invasive therapy segment is the fastest growing category in the treatment of BPH and, as an office-based procedure, t…

NeoPhore Limited, a cancer immuno-oncology company and PhoreMost Limited, today announced the companies will receive £1.0 million of funding following award of a Biomedical Catalyst grant in a recent Innovate UK competition.   The companies are partners on a grant titled, “A novel small molecule approach to enhance cancer immunotherapy”. Their research plan proposes to develop small-molecule drugs that will stimulate cancer immunity by leveraging well-validated genetic mechanisms. The strategy is central to NeoPhore’s approach to spark “dynamic neoantigen evolution” by targeting DNA mismatch repair to induce neoantigen creation in poorly immunogenic tumors. NeoPhore and PhoreMost are both headquartered in Cambridge UK, and NeoPhore was formed as a PhoreMost spin-out following invest…

Autolus Limited, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, today announced the execution of a license agreement under which Autolus has acquired global rights from UCL Business plc (UCLB), the technology-transfer company of University College London (UCL), to develop and commercialize a novel CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy with novel targeting properties for the treatment of B cell malignancies.   The product candidate, which we have designated as AUTO1, is an investigational therapy in which a patient's T cells are genetically modified to express a novel CD19-specific CAR designed to reduce side effects related to cytokine release syndrome (CRS). CD19 is a protein expressed by B-cell lymphomas and leukaem…

Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which serves a patient population of 650,000 in the south west region of the U.K., is the first integrated mental and community health trust in the NHS to join TriNetX, with the goal of expanding the participation of its patients in clinical trials.   “Our involvement with TriNetX is about providing patients with the opportunity to take part in research,” said Andrew Harewood, Head of Research and Clinical Effectiveness at Somerset Partnership. Part of the NIHR Clinical Research Network: South West Peninsula, Somerset Partnership is actively involved in a number of studies covering a range of specialties including mental health, community health, learning disabilities, diabetes, and stroke, among others. “TriNetX gives us the ability to act…

ADC Biotechnology (ADC Bio), announces that it has secured £1.14 million in funding from investment managers, Downing LLP. The funds will bolster the company’s business drive for faster penetration of the main US market. The investment will also assist the development of an advanced bioconjugation method – an entirely new ADC manufacturing approach set to transform the industry, and a conceptual design for implementation of a fill-finish operation within the existing facility at Deeside. The funding vehicle – Downing FOUR VCT Healthcare – was established through a partnership between BioScience Managers, the leading healthcare investment specialists, and Downing LLP to provide a new healthcare share class to Venture Capital Trust (VCT) investors.   ADC Bio announced last month that…

Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI), a company dedicated to bringing to market transformational platforms for biopharmaceutical processes, announced today Sanofi  purchased the Beacon platform to accelerate their cell line development (CLD) process. Based on data from the pilot study, the Beacon platform quickly and efficiently identified target secreting clones, which may save resources and expedite the discovery and development process. The four integrated workflows of Berkeley Lights' Beacon platform – import, culture, assay, and export – can be applied for cell line development, antibody discovery and engineering, gene editing, and research. Automating workflows using the Beacon platform increases efficiencies and reduces overall time while providing insights into the behavior of clonal…

Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI), a company dedicated to bringing to market transformational platforms for biopharmaceutical processes, announced today Sanofi  purchased the Beacon platform to accelerate their cell line development (CLD) process. Based on data from the pilot study, the Beacon platform quickly and efficiently identified target secreting clones, which may save resources and expedite the discovery and development process. The four integrated workflows of Berkeley Lights' Beacon platform – import, culture, assay, and export – can be applied for cell line development, antibody discovery and engineering, gene editing, and research. Automating workflows using the Beacon platform increases efficiencies and reduces overall time while providing insights into the behavior of clonal…

ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a global provider of drug development solutions and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has agreed on preliminary deal terms with Intel Corporation to enable ICON to offer  the Intel® Pharma Analytics Platform for use in  clinical trials. The Intel platform is an edge-to-cloud artificial intelligence (AI) solution that enables remote monitoring and continuous capture of clinical data from study subjects using sensors and wearable devices, and can apply machine learning techniques to objectively measure symptoms and quantify the impact of therapies. Jointly configured by ICON experts and building on Intel’s AI and analytics leadership, trials that leverage the Intel® Pharma Analyti…

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a Japanese R&D-driven specialty pharma focused on oncology and Helsinn, a Swiss pharmaceutical group focused on building quality cancer care products, today announce that they are collaborating on the development of an investigational highly-selective RET inhibitor TAS0286/HM05, being evaluated in non-small cell lung cancer and other carcinomas.  Preliminary data regarding TAS0286/HM05 is being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Abstracts of the presentations are available at: http://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/4562/presentation/6785   In in-vitro preclinical studies, TAS0286/HM05 inhibited the proliferation of various RET fusions and RET-activating mutations positive cells…

The biotechnology company LEUKOCARE has established another important partnership by licensing its Stabilizing and Protecting Solutions (SPS(R)) technologies. According to the Munich-based company, LEUKOCARE has entered into a license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim. On the basis of this agreement, the animal health business unit of the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim will have access to LEUKOCARE's SPS(R) formulation technologies to utilize biological reagents in a new veterinary diagnostics product and to stabilize them. In this context, portable analytical devices support the veterinarian's decision making directly on site and in a minimum of time without shipment of samples. License and payment terms have not been disclosed by the partners. Rolf-Dieter Günther, Head of…

More Diagnostics, Inc., an employee owned developer and manufacturer of clinical diagnostic controls and Emery Pharma, a full-service contract research & development organization, specializing in microbiology, cell biology medicinal chemistry and bioanalytical services, announced the signing of a four-year agreement with Emery Pharma to provide Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) services to More Diagnostics. The agreement covers the analysis of the full range of analytes available in the controls for immunoassays used for testing immunosuppressant drugs, such as Everolimus, Tacrolimus, Cyclosporine and Sirolimus (Rapamycin). "We are very pleased to team with Emery Pharma as our partner in maintaining the highest level of quality and integrity of our products and collabora…

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE: AMN) today announced that it has completed two acquisitions: MedPartners, a leading national mid-revenue cycle firm; and two related brands in healthcare leadership solutions, Phillips DiPisa and Leaders For Today. MedPartners MedPartners, based in Tampa, Florida, provides solutions that help maximize healthcare facilities' revenue integrity, improve patient care management and support care-quality reporting requirements. The purchase price was $195 million, with up to an additional $20 million based on future financial performance. MedPartners generated 2017 revenue of approximately $125 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%. The MedPartners acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to AMN's earnings per share.  …

VER today announced that, as part of a comprehensive transaction supported by its second lien lenders, including funds managed by GSO Capital Partners, it has entered into an agreement to merge with an entity controlled by Production Resource Group LLC ("PRG"). To facilitate the implementation of this pre-negotiated transaction, VER today filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. These filings only affect the Company's North American operations. By uniting, PRG and VER will meet evolving client needs and offer solutions, resources and expertise in ways neither company could achieve independently. Clients will have access to an extraordinary array of equipment and services, and the mo…

- Gene discovery could lead to future individualised therapy in myeloma - Researchers have revealed 40 genes involved in the development of myeloma, increasing our understanding of the complex genetics behind the incurable blood cancer. The discovery will help drive the development of more personalised treatments for myeloma, which is the second most common blood cancer in the UK. The team, based at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and largely funded by the charity Myeloma UK, uncovered new areas of coding, and non-coding DNA, that drive the early progression of myeloma. The research was published in the journal Leukemia today (Monday), and was also supported by Bloodwise and Cancer Research UK. Myeloma arises from the bone marrow and approximately 5,500 people are diagnosed…

Diaceutics, the diagnostic commercialization company that improves patient outcomes via better diagnostic testing, today announces that it has raised £3.75 million in new mezzanine financing from two partners, WhiteRock Capital Partners* and Silicon Valley Bank. The money will be used to support the organization’s continued global expansion.   Specifically, Diaceutics will use the funding to invest in the data analytics services that it provides to pharmaceutical clients and continue to expand its global laboratory network. The company will also look to grow the internal team of experts to deliver data-driven insights designed to improve diagnostic testing that benefits patients.   A recent analysis of Diaceutics’ testing data revealed that, globally, over 150,000 cancer pati…

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) and the CHDI Foundation, Inc. (CHDI) today announced a research collaboration to advance PTC's Huntington's disease program. The program is optimizing small-molecule compounds—identified using PTC's splicing technology platform—that decrease the production of huntingtin protein. The current compounds have been shown to be orally bioavailable in animals, blood-brain barrier penetrant, and effective in decreasing the amount of huntingtin protein in a mouse model that has the expanded human huntingtin transgene. "We are excited to collaborate with CHDI to advance our small-molecule huntingtin-lowering program for the treatment of Huntington's disease," said Stuart W. Peltz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of PTC Therapeutics. "Finding a pote…

NN, Inc., (NASDAQ: NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire PMG Intermediate Holding Corporation, the parent company of Paragon Medical, Inc. for $375 million in cash.  Paragon Medical is a medical device manufacturer which focuses on the orthopedic, case and tray, implant and instrument markets. NN anticipates the transaction will close in the second quarter of 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.  Additional information about the transaction can be found in the supplemental deck on NN's website, www.nninc.com. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey is acting as the financial advisor to NN, and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC is serving as the legal advisor to NN. Paragon Medical cr…