Salix Pharma reportedly exploring options, considering sale

Beset by excess inventory and the loss of a potential buy-out by Allergan, Salix is working with advisors to determine what comes next.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 22, 2015

Ambitious RNA biotech Alnylam raising $450M, looking for acquisitions

Alnylam is upping the ante by raising money, going after acquisitions, and setting a goal of three new marketed products and 10 clinical-stage candidates by 2020.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 21, 2015

BMS' new chief: COO Giovanni Caforio to replace CEO Andreotti in May

A changing of the guard in underway at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

By Sy Mukherjee • Jan. 20, 2015

UPDATED: Yet another major insurance company strikes hep C deal with Gilead

The largest provider of health coverage to US businesses has chosen to procure hep C drugs from Gilead (and not AbbVie), raising the stakes in this marketing battle yet again.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 16, 2015

Intrexon, Ziopharma invest $100M in MD Anderson cancer immunotherapy tech

The groups expect to get five candidates this year.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 15, 2015

J&J licensing IBD drug from microbiome specialist Vedanta

The drug leverages the power of the microbiome.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 14, 2015

Merck invests $50 million in Moderna

Moderna's messenger RNA therapeutics has attracted major pharma investors, including AstraZeneca, Alexion ---and now Merck. All told, Moderna has raised more than $800 million.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 14, 2015

Mersana Therapeutics expands $300M R&D pact with Takeda

This deal takes place in the context of Takeda's new CEO's promise of a more stringent approach to R&D.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 13, 2015

Roche buys majority stake in Foundation Medicine for $1.03B

The investment says a lot about Roche's confidence not just in Foundation, but in using genetics to help select cancer drugs.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 13, 2015

Cempra announces $100M stock sale after antibiotic impresses in pneumonia trials

If Cempra's antibiotic being developed for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), solithromycin, is approved, it will be the first macrolide approved since 1988.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 12, 2015

Biogen Idec, Columbia University forge $30 million genetics research pact

The specifics haven't been revealed. But part of the deal involves the establishment of a genetics studies postdoctoral program at Columbia and a sequencing and analysis facility. 

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 12, 2015

Done deal: Shire acquires NPS Pharma for $5.2 billion

Irish company Shire finally sealed the deal with NPS Pharma, and in the process acquired drugs that will shore up its rare diseases drug portfolio.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 12, 2015

Genentech and Google-backed 23andMe strike Parkinson's research deal

The two companies will team up to sequence the genomes of 3,000 Parkinson's patients in an effort to research new treatments.

By Sy Mukherjee • Jan. 7, 2015

Gilead acquires Phenex's FXR liver drugs in $470 million deal

Gilead is working on development of therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 7, 2015

Minnesota Investment Board will not support Medtronic-Covidien inversion deal

A key investor is expressing displeasure at the planned $43 billion merger between Minneapolis-based Medtronic and Dublin-based Covidien.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 6, 2015

Moderna raises record $450M from investors with groundbreaking RNA tech

That brings the company's private fundraising total up to $950 million.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 6, 2015

J&J and Isis strike $835 million co-development deal

With funding from J&J, Isis is embarking on an R&D quest to discover and develop antisense drugs to treat autoimmune disorders of the GI tract.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 6, 2015

Out with the old: Novartis completes Lilly animal health sale as part of overhaul

Novartis has completed the sale of its animal-health division to Eli Lilly for $5.4 billion and is finalizing acquisition of GSK's oncology unit for $14.5 billion.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 5, 2015

ICYMI: 9 big biopharma predictions for 2015, according to industry experts

9 experts weigh in on the events and trends that will matter most in biopharma in 2015.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 5, 2015

Chiasma raising $56M to develop acromegaly drug—without Roche

Last August, Roche backed out of a $600 million co-development deal with Chiasma. But the company pledged to move forward.

By Nicole Gray • Jan. 5, 2015

It's over: Teva and OncoGenex dissolve custirsen cancer partnership

A partnership initiated between Teva and OncoGenex in 2009 has been scuttled as Teva backs out of a deal to co-develop a prostate cancer drug.

By Nicole Gray • Dec. 31, 2014

Novo searching for successor to CEO Sørensen, who has big shoes to fill

Lars Rebien Sørensen has overseen tremendous growth at Novo Nordisk over his long tenure. But the Novo team reportedly isn't too worried about a transition to a new chief.

By Sy Mukherjee • Dec. 29, 2014

J&J investing $125M up front for MacroGenics' blood cancer drug

With an additional $575 million in prospective milestone fees.

By Nicole Gray • Dec. 23, 2014

Vanda, Novartis reach settlement in schizophrenia drug licensing spat

Novartis will transfer all U.S. and Canadian rights for Fanapt (iloperdione) back to Vanda Pharmaceuticals, among other provisions of the settlement.

By Nicole Gray • Dec. 23, 2014

HHS's BARDA grants $30M Ebola vax development contract to NewLink

All of the clinical development, testing, and manufacturing of the rVSV-EBOV vaccine will be handled by BioProtection Systems—a subsidiary of NewLink.

By Nicole Gray • Dec. 23, 2014