Incyte and Calithera Biosciences Announce Global Collaboration to Develop and Commercialize CB-1158, a Small Molecule Arginase Inhibitor                         Incyte (INCY) and Calithera Biosciences (CALA) announced a global collaboration and license agreement for the research, development and commercialization of Calithera’s first-in-class, small molecule arginase inhibitor CB-1158 in hematology and oncology. CB-1158 is currently being studied in …

Prohost Letter #404 Part 1 HAPPY SPIRITUAL HOLIDAYS HAPPY NEW YEA

Today, Jounce Therapeutics has begun trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol (JNCE).  The Company, which focuses on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies and predictive biomarkers, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,365,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $16.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $101,840,000. In addition, Jounce granted the underwriters …

A few months ago, we heard news that a Belgium firm called Celyad (CYAD) has concluded a deal worth over $300 million with Ono Pharmaceutical. The deal gives Ono the rights to Celyad’s allogeneic NKR-2 T-cell immunotherapy in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This news did not mean a lot to investors as Celyad had yet to recover from a heartbreaking  setback in a late phase trial …

Vertex (VRTX) entered into a licensing agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for the worldwide development and commercialization of four research and development programs that the firm believes represent novel approaches to cancer treatment Merck KGaA will license two clinical-stage programs targeting DNA damage and repair, along with two additional novel pre-clinical programs. Upon the agreement Vertex will receive an upfront payment of $230 million, …

Amgen (AMGN) The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published findings from three Phase 3 studies of Parsabiv (etelcalcetide), an investigational intravenous calcimimetic agent in the U.S. The studies evaluated Amgen’s drug Parsabiv in more than 1,700 adults with secondary hyperparathyroidism on hemodialysis and showed that the drug produced statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, a key marker …

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals’ (ARIA) stock jumped 75% today. The oncology firm entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited under which Takeda will acquire all of the outstanding shares in ARIAD for $24.00 per share in cash, or a total enterprise value of approximately $5.2 billion, representing a premium of approximately 75 percent over ARIAD’s closing price on January 6, 2017. Under …

Extremely important, not just exciting, were the results of Halozyme Therapeutics’s (HALO) Phase 2 randomized, multi-center clinical trial of its PEGPH20 in combination with ABRAXANE® (nab-paclitaxel) and gemcitabine in stage IV pancreas cancer. The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with high levels of hyaluronan (HA-High) treated with PEGPH20 plus ABRAXANE and gemcitabine when compared to HA-High patients receiving …

GILEAD (GILD) One analyst who aimed at bringing only the negatives about biotech has finally succeeded in convincing other critics and media bloggers that Gilead would not be good for investment until the firm acquires a company that can expand its meager oncology franchise. His story became the melody hummed by every blogger, ignoring the fact that the firm’s revenues and income have doubled overnight …

Hi and Happy New Year 2017 In a couple of days, you will receive the NEW Year 2017 issue #404 of the Prohost Letter where we will set out our prediction regarding breakthrough achievements that we believe will change the way diseases will be treated. Our long article tackles great technological capabilities that we expect will advance products to the market and improve state-of-the-art approaches …