Lisa Dreyer - Page 23 - Pappas Capital

Pappas, Chiesi Venture Fund Joins Ranks of Pharma & VC Partnerships

Pappas, Chiesi Venture Fund Joins Ranks of Pharma & VC Partnerships

Art Pappas has overseen his own firm’s venture capital investments for 20 years. Now the veteran life sciences investor is adding on a new role, scoping out investment opportunities for a pharmaceutical company’s new venture fund.

Italian pharma Chiesi Group’s recently-launched Chiesi Ventures will focus on investing in companies developing treatments for rare and orphan diseases. The bulk of the money for investments will come from Chiesi, but the fund will be managed by Durham, NC-based A.M. Pappas & Associates, whose own investing unit, Pappas Ventures, has backed numerous companies that have found exits via acquisition or initial public offering.

TESARO Announces Submission of Rolapitant New Drug Application (NDA) to U.S. Food and Drug Administration

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TESARO, Inc. (Nasdaq:TSRO), an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has submitted the New Drug Application (NDA) for oral rolapitant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Rolapitant is an investigational neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonist developed for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).

TESARO - 09/08/2014

Chiesi Launches Venture Capital Fund via Strategic Collaboration with A. M. Pappas & Associates

Chiesi Launches Venture Capital Fund via Strategic Collaboration with A. M. Pappas & Associates

Strategic Collaboration to Focus on Rare Disease Early Stage Investment Opportunities

PARMA, Italy and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, September 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chiesi Group announced today the launch of its venture capital fund, Chiesi Ventures, via a strategic collaboration with A. M. Pappas & Associates.

Chiesi Ventures will complement the strategic interest of the Chiesi Group in the area of rare diseases by investing in early stage opportunities and expanding the Chiesi network in the US among universities, venture capital investors, rare disease patient organizations and entrepreneurial companies developing treatments for rare diseases.

Chiesi Ventures / Uncategorized - 09/02/2014

Mirati Therapeutics Receives Orphan Designation from U.S. Food & Drug Administration for Mocetinostat in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) today announced that the U.S. FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation to mocetinostat, a spectrum selective HDAC inhibitor, for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In June, mocetinostat was granted Orphan Drug Designation as a treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Orphan drug designation is also being sought for bladder cancer patients with specific genetic alterations.

Mirati Therapeutics - 08/11/2014

Ultragenyx Announces License of Intellectual Property for the Treatment of Epilepsy and Other Seizure-Related Disorders With Triheptanoin

New Patent Also Issued With Composition Claims for Triheptanoin

NOVATO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq:RARE), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases, today announced a license agreement with UniQuest Pty Limited for intellectual property related to the treatment of refractory epilepsy and other seizure-related and neurologic disorders with triheptanoin (UX007). The intellectual property originated from research on epilepsy and other neurologic models conducted at The University of Queensland.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical - 08/05/2014

New Data on Chimerix's Brincidofovir Supports Safety and Antiviral Activity Against Multiple Life-Threatening DNA Viruses in Organ Transplant Recipients

Three Abstracts Presented at 2014 World Transplant Congress

DURHAM, N.C., July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chimerix, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMRX), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, oral antivirals in areas of high unmet medical need, presented new data on its investigational antiviral, brincidofovir (BCV, CMX001), at the 2014 World Transplant Congress (WTC) in San Francisco.

Data presented at WTC support brincidofovir's antiviral activity and safety profile in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) and solid organ transplant recipients who were treated for viral infections including adenovirus (AdV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), BK virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV).

Chimerix - 07/31/2014

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital is First Hospital in Country to Offer Rotation Medical Rotator Cuff System for Minimally Invasive Rotator Cuff Procedures

BALTIMORE, MD -- (Marketwired) -- 07/30/14 -- MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, part of MedStar Orthopaedics, is the first hospital in the United States to offer the Rotation Medical Rotator Cuff System, a new minimally invasive technology potentially providing relief for millions of patients suffering from rotator cuff disease.

The procedure, to be performed by Les Matthews, MD, chief of orthopaedics at MedStar Union Memorial and medical director of MedStar Orthopaedics, uses a new bioinductive implant technology that induces the formation of new tendon-like tissue to effectively treat rotator cuff tendon tears in the shoulder joint.

Rotator cuff tendon tears affect more than four million people annually in the United States and are the most common source of shoulder pain and disability. Tears occur most often from repetitive overuse of the shoulder, or from sudden stress caused by an acute injury; the risk of injury increases with age. Tears that start out small, over time, often develop into larger, more painful and debilitating tears due to continuing degeneration of the torn tendon.

Rotation Medical - 07/30/2014

Anthera Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Sollpura® (liprotamase) for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency From Eli Lilly and Company

Anthera to Form a New Subsidiary, Alkira Therapeutics, to Assume All Development Activities and Registration Activities as a Subsidiary of Anthera
HAYWARD, Calif., July 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANTH) today announced that it has acquired Sollpura (liprotamase), a novel investigational Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy ("PERT") from Eli Lilly and Company. Sollpura is a soluble, stable and non-porcine enzyme product intended for the treatment of patients with low digestive enzyme levels, or Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), due to cystic fibrosis, and potentially other diseases. EPI is characterized by low absorption of fat and other nutrients due to a reduction in digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas.

Anthera Pharmaceuticals - 07/14/2014

CardioDx Announces Aetna and Coventry Health Coverage for Corus® CAD Gene Expression Test

- Blood-Based Test Has Potential to Improve Quality of Care and Lower Costs of Evaluation of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease -
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – [July 7, 2014] - CardioDx, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company specializing in cardiovascular genomics, confirmed today that Aetna has established a clinical policy for the company’s Corus® CAD gene expression test. With this decision, the Corus CAD gene expression test is eligible for coverage among Aetna and Coventry Health members. Aetna considers the Corus CAD gene expression test medically necessary for evaluation of non-diabetic adults with chest pain or anginal equivalent symptoms who have no history of obstructive coronary artery disease.

CardioDx - 07/07/2014

Ultragenyx Announces Initiation of a Phase 2 Study of KRN23 for Pediatric X-Linked Hypophosphatemia in the US and EU

NOVATO, CA – July 1, 2014 – Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases, announced the first patient screened and enrolled in the Phase 2 study of the human monoclonal anti-FGF23 antibody KRN23 (UX023) in pediatric patients with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH). XLH is an inherited metabolic bone disease characterized by short stature, skeletal deformities, bone pain, fractures, and muscle weakness.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical - 07/01/2014