Although SRF813 isn’t likely to reach the clinic until 2021, GSK likes cell therapy’s monotherapy and combination potential. Lilly bids $880m to acquire neurodegenerative cell therapy firm Prevail.

While the bombs that were triggered by terrorists on 15 April in Boston did not contain radioactive materials, in the wake of that disaster, which demonstrated the ease at which an explosive device could be placed in a crowd unnoticed, and the ongoing threat from North Korea, the FDA is convening its first-ever advisory committee meeting to consider medical countermeasures (MCM) for use in the radiological/nuclear incident setting on 3 May.

California biotech Cellerant Therapeutics garnered $36.4 million under an option exercised by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance the development of CLT-008, an investigational first-in-class, allogeneic, cell-based therapy, as a treatment for acute radiation syndrome (ARS).

Araim Pharmaceuticals, Cellerant Therapeutics, Neumedicines, RxBio and the University of Arkansas were awarded a total of $56.3 million by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop new therapies to treat bone marrow, gastrointestinal, lung and skin injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome (ARS) caused by exposure to high doses of radiation, such as after denotation of an improvised nuclear device.