Fierce Biotech

1. Qiming raises $1B fund, continuing big burst of VC activity

   Qiming Venture Partners has raised a $1.1 billion venture fund. Building on its track record of backing biotechs such as CanSino and Zai Lab, Qiming pulled in its largest fund to date against a backdrop of COVID-19-fueled disruption. 

2. Gilead supersizes remdesivir trials, changes primary endpoint

   Gilead has made major mid-study changes to its global remdesivir trials, quadrupling the enrollment target and switching the primary endpoint. The changes come as the world waits for results from the Chinese clinical trials of the advanced COVID-19 antiviral candidate. 

3. Pfizer finds COVID-19 drug candidate, plots summer testing

   Pfizer has found a leading experimental drug candidate against SARS-CoV-2 and is planning to test the drug in the coming months.

4. How a Seattle Genetics cancer drug could help lupus patients with kidney damage

   Yale scientists found that transcription factor HIF-1 helps T cells adapt to an oxygen-starved environment in the kidney and contributes to inflammation and tissue damage in lupus. Treatment with a HIF-1alpha blocker being developed by Seattle Genetics showed promise in mouse models of lupus nephritis.

5. AstraZeneca targets summer start for COVID-19 antibody trial

   AstraZeneca has outlined its multipronged approach to the development of antibodies against the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Big Pharma is applying its own discovery capabilities to the task and helping evaluate candidates identified by academic partners in China and the U.S.