Today, a brief rundown of news involving Tourmaline Bio, Schrödinger and Beckley Psytech, as well as updates from CRISPR Therapeutics and Regenxbio that you may have missed.
Shares in Tourmaline Bio fell by as much as 18% in Tuesday morning trading after the New York-based biotechnology company revealed Phase 2 study results for an antibody drug it's developing for heart disease. Data showed that treatment reduced a biomarker linked to cardiovascular risk by significantly more than placebo through three months. Tourmaline is moving ahead with plans to test the drug, called pacibekitug, in a Phase 3 outcomes study, but will have to convince investors its treatment can beat a rival one from Novo Nordisk. — Ned Pagliarulo
Schrödinger and its chief financial officer, Geoffrey Porges, have “mutually agreed” he will leave the company to “pursue other opportunities,” according to an announcement Tuesday. A longtime biotech analyst, Porges was named Schrödinger CFO in 2022 and has “strengthened the company’s financial profile” since then, CEO Ramy Farid said. However, the announcement comes as Schrödinger shares trade near record lows and a day after the company, in a regulatory filing, revealed plans to lay off about 60 employees, or 7% of its staff, to cut costs. Porges will be replaced by Richie Jain, who previously served as the company’s senior vice president of strategic finance as well as head of corporate development. — Ben Fidler
Shares of Atai Life Sciences were up more than 5% by mid-morning Tuesday after the psychedelics developer reported high-level results from the second part of a mid-stage clinical trial. This part focused on a dozen patients with hard-to-treat depression, who each received a nasal-spray version of a compound known as mebufotenin. According to Atai, researchers found a single dose of the spray, when given along with SSRIs, produced a "rapid and durable antidepressant effect" for up to three months. Jefferies analysts called the results an "encouraging signal," though they believe a separate, larger Phase 2 study that should produce results soon will be the drug's key test. Atai got access to the drug, code-named BPL-300, by taking a nearly 36% stake in its developer, Beckley Psytech, in early 2024. — Jacob Bell
CRISPR Therapeutics is bringing new drugmaking technologies to its toolkit, announcing Monday an alliance with Sirius Therapeutics, which specializes in small interfering RNA therapies. Under the deal, CRISPR will pay Sirius $25 million upfront and make an equity investment of $70 million. Together, the two companies will develop an siRNA therapy dubbed SRSD107 that Sirius is positioning as a new kind of blood thinner that could minimize bleeding risk. It's been tested in two Phase 1 trials and a mid-stage study is beginning. — Ned Pagliarulo
Regenxbio has secured $150 million in new funding and a provision to obtain $100 million more via a "royalty bond agreement" with Healthcare Royalty. The deal, which monetizes royalty and conditional payments Regenxbio is owed, will extend the gene therapy developer's runway into early 2027. "This strategic financing brings future potential funds forward and extends our runway beyond multiple meaningful milestones," said Regenxbio CFO Mitchell Chan. Among those milestones are a possible approval of Regenxbio's therapy for MPS II and clinical trial readouts for medicines to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a form of age-related macular degeneration. — Ned Pagliarulo
