Coming off September, which saw five biopharma IPOs raise more than $1 billion, two firms priced upsized offerings that could total more than $330 million.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd., of Seongnam-si, South Korea, said Oct. 8 that it will acquire a $3 million stake in Fina Biosolutions LLC to become the first and sole strategic investor of the Rockville, Md.-based vaccine specialist. For SK Bioscience, the investment is slated to boost its vaccine R&D capabilities, the company said, which currently includes manufacturing of pneumococcal and typhoid conjugate vaccines.
It was hypothesized that the MEK1/2 inhibitor ATR-002 could reduce inflammation and clear Staphylococcus aureus infection during cystic fibrosis, thus potentially showing a dual effect.
As in other muco-obstructive diseases, the airways in cystic fibrosis (CF) are characterized by goblet cell and glandular hyperplasia, with overproduction of mucins MUC5 and MUC5AC, resulting in viscous mucus, respiratory blockade and recurrent infections and inflammation.
Roche AG’s new test using its temperature-activated generation of signal technology is the next step in PCR evolution, Igor Kozlov, head of Reagent Research and Design at Roche Diagnostics Solutions, told BioWorld. The Cobas Respiratory flex test can detect up to 12 of the most common respiratory viruses using a single PCR test.
The development of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators has significantly improved the therapeutic scenario for CF patients in the past decade. However, around 10% of patients harboring nonsense and splice-site mutations are nonresponsive to CFTR modulators.
Researchers from Splisense Ltd. and affiliated organizations recently reported preclinical data for SPL-84, an inhaled antisense oligonucleotide drug candidate being developed for the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis carrying the 3849 +10 kb C-to-T (3849) mutation.
Scientists from 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc. disclosed the preclinical evaluation of 4D-710, an aerosolized gene therapy that consists of a lung-specific evolved A101 capsid vector, the promoter CMV173 and the transgene codon-optimized human CFTRΔR.
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