Pharma & Biotech
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Plymouth Meeting Biotech Firm Stock Soars Following IPO
Shares of Plymouth Meeting-based Harmony Biosciences Holdings soared as much as 70 percent over the public offering price on the stock’s first day of public trading, writes Ryan Sharrow for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The biotech company issued more than 5.3 million shares at $24 per share, which resulted in proceeds of $128.4 million. The…
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Plymouth Meeting-Based Inovio Within Reach of COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough
With the DNA technology Inovio is basing its COVID-19 vaccine on still experimental after nearly four decades of research and development, J. Joseph Kim, the Plymouth Meeting-based company’s CEO, believes that the eagerly awaited breakthrough is finally within reach, writes Marie McCullough for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The results from an initial and limited study in…
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China-Based AnPac Bio Medical Science Opens Lab in Spring House Park
To become part of the growing life sciences community in the Philadelphia region, China-based AnPac Bio-Medical Science has opened its U.S. headquarters and a cancer screening lab in Spring House Innovation Park in Lower Gwynedd, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. In addition to its operations in China, the biotechnology company already owns…
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Harmony Biosciences Looking to Raise $100 Million in IPO to Study Key Ingredient in Wakix
Plymouth Meeting-based Harmony Biosciences, which markets the drug Wakix for patients with narcolepsy, is planning to raise $100 million with an initial public stock offering, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The company received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to use Wakix as a treatment for the sleep disorder in August…
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Being Sent to Better School Out of His Philadelphia Inner City Neighborhood Changed Merck CEO’s Life
Being sent to a different school out of his Philadelphia inner city neighborhood helped change the life of Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck, the pharmaceutical giant with significant operations in Montgomery County, writes David Rubenstein for Bloomberg. Frazier grew up in what was then “known as the ghetto.” His father had a third-grade education and…
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Spring House-Based Company Raises $2.3M to Manufacture COVID-19 Nasal Antiseptic, Mouth Rinse
Spring House-based Halodine has raised $2.3 million through a private stock sale to scale up manufacturing of its antiseptics that has been developed to offer an extra level of protection against COVID-19, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The company is a spinoff of Florida-based Veloce BioPharma, which was working on mid-stage clinical…
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Pandemic Could Mark Turning Point for Inovio’s DNA Vaccine Technology
The coronavirus pandemic could mark a turning point for DNA vaccine technology that has been three decades in the making and is currently being developed by Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio, writes Marie McCullough for The Philadelphia Inquirer. David B. Weiner, known as “the father of DNA vaccines” in scientific circles, co-founded Inovio and is also its…
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Inovio’s Stock Receives Boost from $71M COVID-19 Vaccine-Related DOD Grant
Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio saw its stock rise by more than 47 percent after announcing it received a $71 million Department of Defense grant to support the scaled-up manufacturing of the device used to administer its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The company also said it is planning to report…
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Merck Partners with La Salle University to Offer Faster Paths to Life Science Careers
Merck, the pharmaceutical giant with significant operations in Montgomery County, has teamed up with La Salle University to prepare students for life science industry careers, writes Queen Muse for the Philadelphia Magazine. The two have partnered with Pathway for Patient Health to offer an innovative curriculum to undergraduate students aimed at offering them faster paths…
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Inovio CEO Tells Wired How DNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Differs from Traditional Vaccines
While most traditional vaccines are created using a weakened or dead version of a virus that is injected into the body, Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio is taking a different approach with its COVID-19 vaccine development, writes Dr. Seema Yasmin for WIRED. “Inovio is working on a DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19,” said Inovio Chief Executive Officer and…
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LanCo Woman Among Volunteers for Clinical Trial of Inovio’s COVID-19 Vaccine
Stella Sexton, a resident of Manheim Township in Lancaster County, is among the volunteers taking part in a clinical trial to test the safety, dosage, and immune response of Inovio’s COVID-19 vaccine, writes Jeff Hawkes for the Lancaster Online. The Plymouth Meeting company is one of the very few that are already performing human testing…
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Plymouth Meeting’s Inovio Alleges Supplier Is Withholding Critical Information on COVID-19 Vaccine
Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals has filed a complaint with Pennsylvania state court alleging that a supplier is holding its experimental COVID-19 vaccine “hostage” by withholding some critical information needed to make it on a larger scale, write Cynthia Koons and Susan Decker for Bloomberg. Inovio claims that its contract manufacturer, GeneOne Life Science and its…
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With Three New Deals, Merck Expands Its COVID-19 Efforts Significantly
Merck, the pharmaceutical giant with significant operations in Montgomery County, has expanded its COVID-19 efforts significantly with three new deals aimed at developing vaccines and therapies for the novel strain of the coronavirus, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. Merck has reached an agreement to acquire Themis Bioscience, a vaccine developer based in…
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Bloomberg Businessweek: Plymouth Meeting’s Inovio’s COVID-19 Vaccine Among Most Promising
Drug companies and university scientists across the world are working around the clock to find a vaccine against COVID-19 and Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals is among the companies leading the way, write Cristin Flanagan, Riley Griffin, Robert Langreth, and John Lauerman for Bloomberg Businessweek. While many experts caution that the whole process will take time,…
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Montgomery County Resident Tapped to Lead President’s Coronavirus Vaccine Effort
Moncef Slaoui, a former executive at GlaxoSmithKline, which has a research facility in Collegeville, has been tapped to lead Trump’s effort to produce and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year, writes Zeke Miller for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Slaoui, a Montgomery County resident, will lead “Operation Warp Speed,” the administration’s push to…
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WuXi Biologics Expects to Add 100 Jobs at Its Newly Leased Space at King of Prussia Discovery Labs
The rapidly-growing biotech company WuXi Biologics has leased space at the Discovery Labs in King of Prussia and is planning to add 100 new jobs by year’s end, writes Natalie Kostelni for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The company signed a deal for 33,000 square feet earlier this year. It plans to use this space to…
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King of Prussia’s CSL Behring Joins Forces to Develop Potential COVID-19 Therapy
King of Prussia-based CSL Behring has joined forces with several other biopharmaceutical companies to develop a potential plasma-derived therapy to treat COVID-19, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The alliance formed by CSL Behring and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals also includes Germany’s Biotest, Texas-based BPL, LFB of France, and Octapharma Plasma of North Carolina.…
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Several Montgomery County Companies Are at Heart of Search for Coronavirus Vaccine
As the search for the coronavirus vaccine continues, several local companies are at the heart of this crucially important process, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Just how much importance is being put on finding a vaccine as soon as possible is evident from the CARES Act, which has set aside $27 billion…
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