1) Congress clears bill that would increase NIH budget by $2 billion – STAT, 12/18/2015
Congress easily approved a federal spending bill Friday with the biggest funding increase for the National Institutes of Health in 12 years — the final hurdle that had to be cleared before President Obama can sign the bill into law.
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2) Massachusetts biotechs behind one-in-six drugs approved by FDA this year– BBJ, 12/15/2015
In a record-setting run for drug approvals, one out of six drugs approved so far this year was developed or marketed by a Massachusetts company.
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3) Massachusetts Life Sciences Center awards $930,000 to local companies for research – Boston Globe, 12/16/2015
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center said Wednesday it has granted $930,000 to Massachusetts companies to support research and development collaborations through the agency’s “Universal Partnerships” program.
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4) Promote, not curtail, biopharma industry– The Lowell Sun, 12/14/2015
Focusing in part on the actions of a hedge-fund manager as a reflection of the biopharma industry does not give an accurate depiction of the cost and value of drug discovery, treatment, and cures (Editorial: Obscene drug profits need price-cure Rx, Dec. 7).
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5) Not slowing down: Here are all the Massachusetts biotechs that held IPOs in 2015 – BBJ, 12/17/2015
This year’s wrap-up of initial public offerings by IPO research firm Renaissance Capital calls the year “a disappointment,” with the $30 billion raised across all sectors at a six-year low.But you wouldn’t know it here in Massachusetts, where 11 biotechs went public since Jan. 1 — the second-highest number for the sector in more than a decade. Those 11 biotechs raised a total of $870 million. By contrast, just two Bay State-based technology companies went public this year.
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