The perennial drug pricing debate has reached a fever pitch, as loud as it’s ever been over the past few decades. Politicians on both sides are bashing the drug industry with the typical talking points about exorbitant prices, countered of course by the expected talking points about innovation and impact from PhRMA and BIO. Even VC’s and biotech CEOs are actively engaged in letter-writing campaigns to support the industry.

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IFM Therapeutics has raised $55.5 million to launch its third drug subsidiary as well as an incubator, both of which are focused on developing new therapies for inflammatory diseases and cancers.

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Today Alkermes announced its acquisition of Rodin Therapeutics, a leader in the field of synaptic dysfunction and neuronal epigenetics.

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Neuroscience has had a tough run of news lately. With Amgen deprioritizing neuro this year, Pfizer doing the same last year, and others like BMS, GSK, and AZ cutting back on CNS a few years earlier, it would seem dark times for neuroscience R&D. Add to that the recent unpredictable complexity around Biogen’s aducanumab, where hugely expensive Phase 3 trials are caught in the maelstrom between negative futility and positive analysis, and it might further question why anyone would want to work in the space.

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Brian MacDonald’s original foray into treating iron dysregulation by injecting hepcidin, a small peptide hormone key for iron homeostasis, didn’t quite get off the ground. This time, the former GSK executive is taking a fresh approach — by regulating hepcidin expression within the body.

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