News

Cara Therapeutics has appointed Joana Goncalves, M.D. Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Goncalves brings more than 17 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to Cara. Most recently, she served as Vice President, Medical Affairs for Dermatology and Neurology at Celgene Corporation. “We are very pleased to welcome Joana to the Cara team,” said Derek Chalmers, Ph.D., D.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cara Therapeutics. more

Farmington's Rallybio, founded by ex-Alexion employees, has already raised $37 million in its quest to identify drug targets that will treat ultra-rare diseases. It's the type of venture Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development would like to see more of. For although Connecticut biopharma has been through several downsizing waves, that may be a good thing, because it fosters the environment in which innovation can occur. Note: The article linked to below describes the ebb and flow pattern typical of companies in the bioscience industry. The good news is that Connecticut is doing a better job than many at retaining talent in the [...]

SphereGen Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Partner Application Development, a Mixed Reality Partner and a Cloud Solution Provider. Its aim is to make the integration and exchange of critical business information easy. more

Melinta Therapeutics has appointed John H. Johnson interim chief executive officer, (CEO), succeeding Dan Wechsler, who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. Johnson has more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry, executive leadership and commercial experience at leading global organizations, including Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly & Company, ImClone and Pfizer, Inc. “On behalf of the board of directors, we would like to thank Dan Wechsler for his contributions to the Company and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Kevin Ferro, chairman of Melinta Therapeutics. more

Rebiotix, a subsidiary of the Ferring Pharmaceuticals Group, is a clinical stage biotechnology company founded to revolutionize the treatment of debilitating diseases by harnessing the power of the human microbiome. The company's Microbiota Restoration Therapy™ drug platform delivers live, human-derived microbes into a sick patient’s intestinal tract to treat disease. more

Rallybio has been named to the 'Fierce 15' list of biotech companies by the industry online pubication FierceBiotech. “We all feel that we’ve got several more medicines left in us,” say Rallybio's founders, the Alexion veterans Martin Mackay, Stephen Uden, and Jeffrey Fryer. The team recently raised $37 million in funding to focus on developing new drugs for rare diseases. more

The Jackson Laboratory’s Clinical Knowledge Database (CKB) represents a dynamic, digital encyclopedia with sophisticated search capabilities that allow both researchers and clinicians to interpret complex cancer genomic profiles ... more Separately, scientists at the Jackson Laboratory plan to spend the next five years researching the link between genetics and substance abuse, a $4 million effort funded by the federal government. The scientists will focus on the effects of cocaine, which about 913,000 Americans reported abusing or being addicted to in 2014 ... more

A new industry-academic initiative to increase entrepreneurial education and output among the state’s top researchers has been launched recently by the University of Connecticut, Unilever, Quinnipiac and Wesleyan Universities, and The Jackson Laboratory, with funding through a grant from the CTNext Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund. more

Loxo Oncology has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for cancer treatment drug LOXO-292. The medication is a selective rearranged during transfection (RET) inhibitor for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy, have progressed following prior treatment and have no acceptable alternative treatment options. more

Norwalk Hospital, part of Western Connecticut Health Network, has launched four new breast cancer clinical trials in partnership with the New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The collaboration is overseen by oncologists from the C. Anthony and Jean Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital and MSK. The hospital says it is the first in Connecticut to offer the four trials. more