Headlines:
“Cellectis gets U.S. go-ahead to test ‘off-the-shelf’ cell therapy,” Reuters
“Cellectis has won U.S. regulatory approval to run an early clinical trial using its gene edited cell therapy product UCART123 for blood cancers, boosting the French biotech firm’s ambitions in the hot area of cancer research...”
“Serono spinout raises €29M for phase 2 Parkinson’s trials,” Fierce Biotech
“Prexton Therapeutics has raised €29 million ($31 million) to take its Parkinson’s disease candidate through two phase 2 trials. The Series B positions the Merck Serono spinout to build on last year’s phase 1 success by testing the mGluR4 positive allosteric modulator in larger efficacy studies…”
“BioTime Acquires Retinal Repair Cell Therapy from UPMC,” Genetic Engineering News
“Regenerative medicine company BioTime expanded its ophthalmology portfolio through the acquisition of global rights to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) stem cell-derived retinal repair platform IP. The cell therapy technology, developed in partnership with BioTime, generates 3-D retinal tissue from human pluripotent stem cells for use as implants to repair retinas in patients with advanced retinal degradation. The licensing deal has been made through UPMC’s Innovation Institute…”
“How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning,” The New York Times
“It’s looking as if 2017 could become the year when the anti-vaccination movement gains ascendancy in the United States and we begin to see a reversal of several decades in steady public health gains. The first blow will be measles outbreaks in America…”
“U.S. FDA approves Bristol-Myers’ Opdivo for bladder cancer,” Reuters
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded the use of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s Opdivo to include treatment of urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer…”
“13 UC Berkeley faculty members awarded research grants by CZ Biohub,” The Daily Californian
“Thirteen UC Berkeley faculty members have been awarded up to $1.5 million in grants each by the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to carry out biomedical research. CZ Biohub — founded in September 2016 with an investment from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan — is a nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to encouraging and funding research related to finding cures for diseases. The 13 campus faculty are part of a group of 47 investigators chosen by CZ Biohub, who come from Stanford University, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, the organization’s partners.”
