Life Science Headlines - January 20th, 2022

Welcome to Life Science Headlines (formerly Healthcare Headlines). As some of you know, in 2014 Jacobs Management Group launched an industry specific publication (Healthcare Sales and Marketing Magazine) featuring news, trends, industry updates, and hot innovations all centered around the Medical Device, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical industries. We are excited to launch Life Science Headlines on LinkedIn and invite you to subscribe to the latest updates.

Altos Labs Launches Biotechnology Company with $3B and Hal Barron (President of R&D and CSO at GSK) Leading a Dream Team San Francisco, CA, January 19, 2022 (PRNewswire) — Altos Labs™ (Altos™) launched today as a new biotechnology company dedicated to unraveling the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming. Altos’ mission is to restore cell health and resilience to reverse disease, injury, and the disabilities that can occur throughout life.

BiVACOR® Taps Prominent Medical Device Leader and Former Cardiac Surgeon Thomas Vassiliades as New CEO: Houston, TX, January 14, 2022 (EINPresswire.com) — BiVACOR®, a preclinical artificial heart device company, has named Thomas Vassiliades, MD, MBA, as Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Founder and previous CEO, Daniel Timms, Ph.D., tapped Dr. Vassiliades to build upon the foundation of innovative technology established over recent years and accelerate the progression of product development leading to human clinical trials and commercialization of the company’s novel and proprietary total artificial heart.

UCB to acquire Zogenix for nearly $2B: Brussels, BE, and Emeryville, CA, January 19, 2022 (PRNewswire) — Regulated information – Inside information – UCB (Euronext: UCB) and Zogenix (NASDAQ: ZGNX) announced today that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which UCB would acquire Zogenix, Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company commercializing and developing therapies for rare diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, UCB will commence a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Zogenix for a purchase price per share of US$ 26.00 in cash at closing, plus a contingent value right (CVR) for a potential cash payment of US$ 2.00 upon EU approval by December 31, 2023, of FINTEPLA® as an orphan medicine for treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).

Augmedics Announces Appointment of Medtech Veteran Kevin Hykes as President and CEO: Chicago, IL, January 18, 2022 (Business Wire) — Augmedics, a pioneer in augmented reality (AR) surgical navigation, today announced its newest executive leadership addition in support of the accelerating growth of the company’s revolutionary AR-driven xvision system®.

Freenome adds $290M from Roche, Passes $1B in funding: South San Francisco, CA, January 11, 2022 (PRNewswire) — Freenome, a privately held biotech company, announced today that Roche has made an investment of $290 million, bringing Freenome’s total funding to more than $1.1 billion since the company was founded in 2014. This announcement follows Freenome’s recent Series D financing of $300 million in December.