Bionest

Gilead and Galapagos

With Gilead Sciences’ hepatitis C sales revenues from Solvaldi and Harvoni fading and lower than expected Yescarta sales, the company has been looking for new products to bolster its pipeline. In mid-July, Gilead addressed some of this need by deepening ties to an existing partner, Galapagos. The two companies have formed a 10-year, $5.1 billion...

Bionest

Gene Therapy: Coming of Age Perhaps, but Who Will Pay?

New technologies tend to go through cycles of interest and attention. Initial excitement about the potential of a technological advance too often builds to over-blown hype, followed by a quick reversal of interest in the aftermath of a big disappointment. But if continued research later produces truly encouraging results, interest can build again as time...

Bionest

CRISPR Reaches the Clinic

Sometime mid-month, the first clinical trial employing CRISPR gene editing technology within the human body will initiate in China, at Sun-Yat Sen University. Scientists there will seek to use CRISPR and TALEN, another gene editing method, to treat persistent HPV infection and disable the tumor growth mechanism in infected cells. In a non-invasive approach, scientists...

Bionest

A Look at Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Part 1 – Marathon Pharmaceuticals, PTC Therapeutics, and Drug Pricing

  In February of this year, Marathon Pharmaceuticals received approval for Emflaza (deflazacort) tablets and oral suspension for the treatment of patients over the age of five years with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), regardless of the particular genetic mutation associated with their condition. The drug — an older corticosteroid with no patent protection which has...

Bionest

See you at ASCO 2016!

It’s nearly June, which means one thing for the Bionest Oncology team:  ASCO is right around the corner.  As we gear up for our time in Chicago, we are taking a look at some of the big topics and anticipated data we expect to see during the conference. The theme of ASCO this year is...

Bionest

Trends to Watch in 2016 – Part 2

  We started the year off in January by reviewing three of the major trends of 2015 and reflecting on where we saw events headed in 2016. In part 2 of this post, which follows yesterday’s celebration of Rare Disease Day, we’d like to discuss two further areas where we expect to see increasing focus...

Bionest

Visit Us at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference – Jan 11-14 in San Francisco!

We are looking forward to attending the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference again January 11-14, 2016, in San Francisco.   Three of Bionest’s leaders, Alain J. Gilbert, Olivier Lesueur, and Bob Easton, will be available to meet one-on-one for 30 minutes in our private suite, between Monday Jan 11 and Thursday Jan 14.   For Bionest,...

Bionest

BIO Europe 2015 Conference – Reflections

Bionest attended BIO Europe in Munich last month and witnessed firsthand the flurry of deal making activity.  In many ways 2015 has been a landmark year for deal making.  Companies big and small have made headlines, striking deals across every corner of the industry and for myriad reasons ranging from combination collaborations to the recent...