Bionano Genomics has acquired the Salt Lake City-based Lineagen, to incorporate its genetic diagnostic services covering childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and autism spectrum disorder.

On the heels of a Big Pharma deal worth up to $500 million, Yumanity Therapeutics is merging its way onto Wall Street. The neuro-focused biotech is joining up with Proteostasis, which once planned to move a cystic fibrosis drug into the clinic this year but is now looking for someone to buy its pipeline.

The FDA has rejected Tricida’s filing for approval of a treatment for metabolic acidosis in patients with chronic kidney disease. Tricida said it may need to run another clinical trial to fix the deficiencies that led the FDA to issue the complete response letter.

As the coronavirus crisis lit up this spring, headlines about how the U.S. could innovate its way out of a pending ventilator shortage landed almost as hard and fast as the pandemic itself.

Hepatocytes in the liver can naturally regenerate, provided the organ is completely healthy. But when the liver is diseased, it has too much scar tissue to nurture the environment hepatocytes need to replenish themselves.

Introduction

Adoptive cell transfer, in which a patient’s own immune defenses are boosted or rewired to kill cancer cells, is one of the most effective forms of personalized cancer care to ever reach patients. There are two types of adoptive cell transfer. In one type, immune cells called T cells are isolated, genetically modified, expanded, and returned to patients (e.g., CAR T cell therapy, TCR-modified T cell therapy). In the second type, the cells are expanded and infused back without genetic modification. The latter involves tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes or TILs – a naturally occurring, heterogeneous population of white blood cells that migrate into a tumor. TILs are known to be the most suitable immune cells to attack and destroy the cancer they homed in on.

Treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varies from patient to patient and can combine different kinds of therapy and drugs, including anti-anxiety meds and antidepressants. Problem is, the only drugs approved for PTSD don’t work for everyone, and even when they do, they don’t work perfectly and come with side effects.

AstraZeneca has enlisted RenalytixAI to help it develop precision medicine strategies for managing patients with chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys and metabolism.

Canada’s AbCellera is already a go-to partner for big biopharma antibody discovery efforts, inking deals with the likes of Merck, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly. Now, it’s adding another tool to its offerings: a bispecifics platform that can combine any two of the antibodies it discovers.

The Trump administration has revoked the FDA’s authority over lab-developed tests, including requirements that certain diagnostics made for COVID-19 go through the agency’s emergency review and authorization process.