Drug Discovery

Gilead Sciences will shell out $5.1 billion to nearly double its minority stake in Galapagos from approximately 12.3% to at least 22%--and possibly about 30%--through a 10-year global R&D collaboration in which the co-developers of filgotinib will also co-develop the rest of the Belgian biotech’s pipeline.

By studying the effects of cerebrospinal fluid from MS patients on mitochondria in rat neurons, U.S. researchers have identified a biological mechanism that might ultimately help develop new therapeutic strategies against the progressive form of the disease.

Genmab wrapped up an eventful week on Friday as the Danish biotech launched an up to $200 million-per-product cancer therapy collaboration with BliNK Biomedical, and raised $503 million through an American initial public offering (IPO).

A Duke Health researcher's study demonstrates that a newer shingles vaccine works in severely immunosuppressed patients and suggests that it could also work with others whose immune systems are not normal -- including patients with HIV, breast cancer and auto-immune conditions.

Passage Bio, a developer of gene therapies for rare monogenic CNS diseases launched five months ago, will partner with Catalent’s Paragon Gene Therapy unit to develop a dedicated manufacturing suite at Paragon’s Harmans, MD, facility.

Scientists from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University have shown that a molecule known as VPS35 clears the brain of the potentially harmful tau protein, which otherwise accumulates and contributes to neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease

Merck & Co. and Skyhawk Therapeutics launch a collaboration that could pay the Waltham, MA, biotech approximately $600 million for every small molecule program the companies develop against neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

Biotechnology has turned cells into machines capable of making biological medicines that are more effective and better targeted than traditional drugs.

Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausannee (EPFL), working with physicists at the University of Geneva, say they have developed a new nanotheranostic system that overcomes several problems with previous approaches. Their novel nanotheranostic system uses harmonic nanoparticles, a family of metal-oxide nanocrystals with exceptional optical properties.

BioNTech's $325 million Series B financing proceeds will be used not only toward advancing its pipeline of immuno-oncology candidates, but adding to its manufacturing capacity and exploring an expanded global footprint as well.