14 More Stories: CRISPR enters Humans, Biocartis makes a Splash

Try as we might, we can’t cover all the biotech news out there. During the week, we only pick the top stories to keep you informed but not waste your time. Here’s a roundup of news that didn’t make the cut this week.

• Biocartis had a big week. The molecular diagnostics company raised €32.7M in an equity placement after setting a goal for €25M. This comes after the company recruited Thermo Fisher to distribute its testing platform in the US.
• Neovacs, sights set on a lupus vaccine, acquired Amegabiotech for its interferon alpha manufacturing tech.
• Deinove and Processium have partnered up for the industrial production of carotenoids for healthcare, nutrition and cosmetics.
• PsiOxus has licensed its “immunological stimulant,” PolyMAP, out to Avidea.

• Tiziana Life Sciences is developing fully human antibodies as an oral therapy for NASH and autoimmune diseases, and it seems to be going well in humanized mouse models.
• Novartis is reporting positive Phase III results of AMG 334 (erenumab) for people with episodic migraines.
• SENS-401, a new drug from Sensorion for acute hearing loss, is proving itself in preclinical tests.
• Pfizer and Novartis have more positive data for their drugs, Cosentyx and Otezla, respectively, in the race for a new psoriatic arthritis treatment.
• GSK’s sirukumab is struggling in Phase III for rheumatoid arthritis following a mixed bag of results.

Following solid performances in the clinic:

• Novo Nordisk scored a positive opinion from the EMA’s Committee for Products for Human Use on its fast-acting insulin aspart, Fiasp.
• Janssen has submitted a biologics license application to the FDA for its plaque psoriasis treatment, guselkumab, which hinges on tech licensed from Morphosys.

• CRISPR was tested in a person for the first time by a group of Chinese scientists.
• Roche launched imCORE, a global network of immunotherapy centers to advance immunotherapy that the Swiss pharma is backing with 100M CHF.
• Global Bioenergies has announced that the construction of its new plant for the fermentation of gaseous hydrocarbons is now complete.

That’s All, Folks!

Image Credits: Janossy Gergely, pingebat, g-stockstudio, chinnapong, seaphotoart / shutterstock.com