BIOTECHNOLOGY
for microRNA-targeting drugs used to treat unspecified diseases. Regulus will provide technical support and training for the Chinese firm on oligonucleotide scale-up. STA recently established oligo labs in San Diego and Changzhou, China. The company plans to open an oligo-manufacturing facility in Changzhou this year.—RICK MULLIN
▸ Zinc fingers to touch Gilead therapies
DRUG DELIVERY
▸ Fujifilm will build liposome drug plant Downloaded via UNIV OF SOUTH DAKOTA on August 17, 2018 at 08:18:44 (UTC). See https://pubs.acs.org/sharingguidelines for options on how to legitimately share published articles.
Fujifilm will spend $37 million to build a liposome drug plant in Toyoma, Japan. The facility will support Fujifilm’s effort to develop and launch liposome drugs—in particular, an anticancer agent that Fujifilm plans to start testing in the U.S. this year. In liposome drugs, active substances are contained in artificial vesicles made from organic materials that closely resemble cells and membranes. The method may improve delivery of anticancer agents to the targeted tumor, Fujifilm says.—JEAN-
FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
PHARMACEUTICALS
▸ BASF debuts omega-3 medical food BASF is entering the medical food market with the launch of a product for people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hepaxa, a pill containing highly
concentrated and pure omega-3 acids— eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids—is being called the first product in the U.S. designed to address a buildup of fat in the liver, known as steatosis, in people with NAFLD. Diem Labs will distribute it. The two firms announced an agreement last year to work together in the medical food arena.—RICK MULLIN
C R E D I T: BAS F
▸ Lanxess plans to increase capacity for its Macrolex dyes for plastics in Leverkusen, Germany, by 25% by the end of 2018. Set to cost more than $6 million, the expansion is needed to meet new demand, particularly from customers in Asia, Lanxess says. ▸ Toray Industries has bought a 350,000-m2 plot of land in Sri City near Chennai in southeastern India. The plot will initially be home to a spun bond polypropylene plant. Toray also plans to
GENE THERAPY
LITIGATION
▸ Ex-Merck scientist pays for insider trading Former Merck & Co. scientist Yang Xie has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission a penalty for insider trading related to Merck’s 2015 acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Xie, at the time Merck’s director of global health outcomes research, bought shares in Cubist soon after learning that Merck would likely make an offer to acquire the biotech firm. He later sold them at a $2,287 profit, violating both Merck policy and insider trading law. Xie’s fine was $6,681, three times his profit on the trade.—MICHAEL MCCOY
Business Roundup build engineering plastics facilities there. ▸ Hitachi Chemical is one of the investors in Ionic Materials, a Boston-area start-up that recently raised $65 million to commercialize solid electrolytes for batteries. Hitachi wants to develop anode materials that work with solid electrolytes. ▸ Pilbara Minerals, which is building a lithium mine in Australia, has received a $62 million investment from
Gilead Sciences is betting big on gene editing to improve its cell immunotherapy programs. But rather than embrace CRISPR, Gilead has partnered with Sangamo Therapeutics, a pioneer of an older gene-editing tool called the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN). Sangamo has amassed a large ZFN protein library, allowing it to link ZFNs together to target any site in the genome. Gilead will give Sangamo $150 million up front and up to $3 billion more if Gilead develops 10 or more new therapies.—RYAN CROSS
▸ Generation Bio raises $125 million Less than two months after launching with $25 million in series A funding, Generation Bio has raised $100 million in series B funding to develop its re-doseable gene therapies. Existing gene therapies require DNA to be delivered into cells via a virus, which means a therapy can’t be given to the same person twice because it will cause an immune response. Generation Bio is developing a nonviral approach that uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver a strand of close-ended DNA. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm was founded by Atlas Venture.—RYAN CROSS
POSCO, a South Korean conglomerate. POSCO gets rights to future Pilbara lithium chemical output. ▸ SK Chemicals will spin off its vaccine business and perhaps list it on a stock market. The South Korean firm says the move will strengthen the business by giving it its own name, identity, and investors. ▸ GeneTx Biotherapeutics has been launched by Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics, an advocacy group for the rare disease. GeneTx will pursue an investigational antisense drug,
GTX-101, discovered at Texas A&M. ▸ BenevolentAI, which applies artificial intelligence to science, has acquired a drug R&D facility in Cambridge, England, from Proximagen. BenevolentAI founder Ken Mulvany is a former CEO of Proximagen. ▸ Takeda Pharmaceutical, the University of Washington, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are forming a drug discovery alliance. The pact is intended to give academic scientists access to Takeda’s drug discovery capabilities.
MARCH 5, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
11
