A biotech born out of the work of Stanford CAR-T leader Crystal Mackall is publicly unveiling its $200 million Series A Wednesday, after already going through a Phase I clinical trial, rebranding and setting up plans for a potential registrational study.
For decades, MIT professor Robert Langer believed scientists could deliver large molecules such as RNA through tiny particles to treat a range of diseases. When he told a group of senior scientists about his ideas for drug delivery at a Chinese restaurant in 1979, one of them blew cigar smoke in his face.
“You better start looking for another job,” the scientist said.
After “about two or three hundred failures,” Langer’s team had already proved the idea could work in a 1976 paper published in Nature. Still, he faced a string of rejected grants and skepticism. His research on drug delivery, which led him to co-found Moderna in 2010, went on to prove critical in developing the company’s Covid-19 vaccine. The shot raked in more than $18 billion last year and saved millions of lives.
Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.
Alfredo Najá Domingos’ prostate cancer was spreading. The malignant cells permeated his bones, kidney, lungs and liver, and in December, his oncologist told him there was no point in continuing chemotherapy treatment.
But there was a new treatment he could try: a targeted radiotherapy called Pluvicto — if he could get it in time. Both Moffitt Cancer Center and Mayo Clinic in Florida, not too far from Domingos and his family, said he would have to wait between three and a half and four months to get the treatment. His wife, Nora Flor, said she and her sister made calls to at least 30 centers across the US looking for the drug.
Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.
Eli Lilly is looking to get ahead of any more federal action on insulin prices, announcing today that it will not only slash its most commonly used insulin by 70%, but cap out-of-pocket costs for those on commercial insurance at $35 per month — just as the federal government recently did for those insured by Medicare.
The move to again slash the cost of insulin — back in 2019, Lilly cut the list price of Humalog by 50% — comes as rationing of the life-saving shot has led to deaths for some diabetics who could not afford their injections, even as Congress is working on another push to cap out-of-pocket costs for diabetics after Senate Republicans shot down the idea last August.
Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription
Unlock this story instantly and join 161,400+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it’s free.
TandemAI, a small molecule- and preclinical-focused technology company, raised $35 million in a Series A round of financing a little over a year after raising an initial $25 million to get started.
CEO Jeff He says the company offers a three-in-one approach for biotech and pharma companies: a drug discovery platform of small molecules, China-based wet labs, and experts across various fields including chemistry and AI, all of whom work with clients to bring a drug candidate out of the preclinical stage.
This content was originally published here.
