MDNA.TO (TSX – Canada), MDNAF (OTCQB – USA) Medicenna is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel, selective IL-2, IL-4, and IL-13 Superkine molecules exclusively in-licensed from Stanford University. The Superkines are engineered versions of naturally circulating immune system cytokines, designed to enhance cancer-killing properties of immune cells while enabling systemic therapeutic dosing by minimizing their […]
August 23rd Biotech Update
Nothing is going to change my overall view on the market and the sector, where I think we need to touch that 52-week low to find significant longer-term support. We keep seeing rates going higher and while the cause of that does not matter, the increasing costs of capital always end up being a drag […]
ISIS Huntington’s Disease Program: A good start on an ambitious target
Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The most typical symptom, but by far not the only, is the occurrence of incontrollable, random and sudden movements (chorea). Symptoms appear around 30 and 40, and the life expectancy after the first manifestations is two decades. Huntington’s is caused by […]
What to look for at ESMO 2013
Apropos to our post yesterday on upcoming medical conferences, we wanted to begin with some coverage of the European Cancer Congress 2013 (ECCO-ESMO). This conference takes place Friday, September 27th thru Tuesday, October 1st. Below we have some of the datasets and updates we are looking forward to seeing. ESMO planners also put out their, […]
Impressions from ASCO 2013 Days 3 and 4
Having survived ASCO 2013, we wanted to review some of the main data from Days 3 and 4. After a very long first 2 sessions, Day 3 and 4 were less data heavy, however, the outcomes from some of these had a dramatic effect for some (like CLVS, INFI, TSRO and SNTA). PD1’s belle of […]
Biggest takeaway from ASCO 2013
With wrapping up our coverage of the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, I feel compelled to elucidate a point that we tried to hammer home with our preview of this meeting. I attended at least a dozen presentations covering various indications, but nothing compared to the sessions on the developments […]
HALO – Halozyme – The Platform Still Stands
Halozyme shares cratered following a Complete Response Letter (CRL) received by Pharma partner Baxter for the potential blockbuster drug HyQ on August 1. The FDA had concerns over high levels of non-neutralizing antibodies patients developed to recombinant human hyaluronidase, or rHuPH20, Halozyme’s platform technology. HyQ is a combination of PH20 with Baxter’s Gammagard (basically a […]
IDIX – Quick Take on IDX184
Idenix released SVR4 data for its lead drug IDX184 and early 3-day results of the promising NS5A inhibitor IDX719 Tuesday afternoon. Both sets of data looked good, sending IDIX shares soaring in after-hours trading. 31 patients from the first cohort of Idenix’s Phase IIb study were randomized to either 50mg (n=16) or 100mg (n=15) IDX184 […]
