NCBiotech News

Johnson & Johnson, having already announced several manufacturing investments in North Carolina, has announced another one: a new drug product manufacturing facility in Wilson, to add as many as 500 people making medicines for oncology and neurological diseases.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded Morrisville-based Locus Biosciences $3.3 million, part of a contract that could total up to $28 million if all project milestones are met.

Boston-based Aktis Oncology has filed to go public in the U.S., according to multiple news reports. The company has operations in Durham.

Site Selection magazine has named North Carolina tops in the U.S. for workforce development. “If you’re ready to graduate your company’s operations to the next level on a foundation of skills and talent, North Carolina is a good place to enroll,” the magazine wrote.

Novo Nordisk has launched its new Wegovy pill, the first GLP-1 pill approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to treat obesity.

James B. Hunt Jr., a populist four-term governor who championed biotechnology as a new economic engine for North Carolina and led the creation of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, died Dec. 18. He was 88.

Meiogenix, a biotechnology company harnessing targeted recombination for precision plant breeding, has relocated its U.S. headquarters to Research Triangle Park from Ithaca, New York.

Bantam Pharmaceutical, a clinical-stage company pioneering mitochondrial biology to develop first-in-class medicines for treating aggressive cancers, announced that the first patient was treated at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, in its Phase 1 clinical trial studying BTM-3566.

Innovative approaches to making clinical studies more efficient and cost-effective were a central theme of the 2nd Annual COG: CRO Summit, held in early December in Durham, N.C. The event convened leaders from clinical research organizations (CROs) and functional service providers for two days of networking and open discussion on the future of the industry.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein joined state and local officials and life sciences partners to help Novartis break ground on its plans to expand its pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the Research Triangle.

Mucommune, a Morrisville-based biotechnology company with roots at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded up to $29.4 million in federal funding over six years to research and develop a novel cancer therapy.

Precise Bio Inc., a Greensboro-based clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, has announced the world’s first transplant of a cell-based, functional, 3D-bioprinted cornea. The procedure took place Oct. 29 at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, as part of the company’s ongoing Phase I clinical trial.

New legislation proposed by a bipartisan and bicameral group of Congressional legislators and supported by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center would establish a dedicated national center aimed at strengthening U.S. innovation, capacity and workforce for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Innatrix, an agricultural biotech startup based in RTP, is addressing one of agriculture’s biggest challenges — pathogen and pest resistance to conventional pesticides.

Liquidia officials were joined by Pathway Triangle leaders for a groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new manufacturing facility at 1000 Science Drive in Morrisville.