While other venture capital firms spent the Great Recession paring back or running away from biotech, newbie Third Rock Ventures went all in. Now with a fifth fund totaling $770 million, the Boston VC says it will plow more cash into — if not create more — Bay Area life sciences companies. The 10 or 12 companies Third Rock will…
Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer can spread throughout the body via the bloodstream as circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, which eventually reach distal (remote) body sites to form metastatic tumors. An increase in ribosomes, the protein-making machinery found in every living cell, increases their potential to form metastasis, report investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGH) and Harvard Medical School…
In the largest study of skin cancer rates among gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals, investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital report important differences in skin cancer prevalence among sexual minorities. Rates of skin cancer were higher among gay and bisexual men compared to heterosexual men but lower among bisexual women than heterosexual women. These findings, which were possible because of the sexual…
LogicBio Therapeutics had hoped to begin testing what could be the first gene-targeting treatment designed specifically for infants and children, but FDA qualms have put a moratorium on those plans. Regulators placed a clinical hold this week on a gene therapy developed by LogicBio (Nasdaq: LOGC) “pending the resolution of certain clinical and nonclinical questions,” the company said in press release. The…
On February 29, 2020, the McCourt Foundation will host its annual educational update about Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). This free event at the Boston Marriott Newton, in Newton, MA, offers patients, families and caregivers the opportunity to learn about recent advances in research and care for these disorders. Physicians from Mass General and Brigham & Women’s…
In honor of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), we invited women scientists at all stages of their careers at Boston Children’s Hospital to share their scientific agendas. Here is some of what they had to say. Don’t be afraid. Go into science because it is an amazing world, and you have the chance to…
Elicio Therapeutics, a next generation immuno-oncology company, and Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA), a global leader in cell-free DNA testing, today announced their collaboration in a prospective, multicenter Phase 1/2 study of ELI-002, an Amphiphile immuno-oncology therapeutic targeting KRAS mutations in the adjuvant setting for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who have undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by pancreatectomy. IND submission for the 108-patient…
Thanks to advances in treatments in recent years, people with cystic fibrosis (CF) are living longer than ever before. Along with this increasing longevity comes some ongoing challenges for patients — from adhering to their treatment plans to managing symptoms to optimize their quality of life. The Cystic Fibrosis Center, through the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, is making great…
Each one of us carries about 38 trillion bacteria around with us in our gut every day – if you wanted to count them all, it would take you more than a million years. How can such a veritable zoo of microbes reside peacefully in our guts without triggering our immune systems to attack them, as do “bad” bacteria that…
When Jan Skvarka joined Cambridge’s Trillium Therapeutics Inc. as CEO in September 2019, the company had a paltry market cap of $27 million and had been stuck in a drug development rut. Months later, the company may be bouncing back. Trillium (Nasdaq: TRIL) raised $117 million late last week in an oversubscribed fundraising, surpassing its initial $75 million goal. For the first time in…