Robert Plenge is taking the plunge at Celgene. The ex-Merck investigator is moving out of Big Pharma to take charge of immunology research for the big biotech.

President Trump had hoped to cut NIH spending this year as he looked for cash to build a wall with Mexico, among other things. But Congress isnt having any of it. Lawmakers agreed to a $2 billion increase for the NIH in a spending bill agreed to by Democrats and Republicans late Sunday.

Mary Lynne Hedley, Tesaro

Waltham, MA-based Tesaro which recently won its first drug approval has filed an IND for their LAG-3 targeting drug TSR-033. This antibody was developed with AnaptysBio. The IND for TSR-033 is the third application from our immuno-oncology franchise to be submitted to the FDA within the past 17 months, said Mary Lynne Hedley, President and COO of TESARO. Our vision is that immuno-oncology candidates such as TSR-033, TSR-042, our anti-PD-1 antibody, and TSR-022, our anti-TIM-3 antibody, could become a foundation of cancer therapy regimens across a variety of tumor types. A Phase 1 clinical study of TSR-033 is planned to begin in mid-2017.

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Robert Plenge tapped to run immunology R&D at Celgene; Tesaro files LAG-3 IND - Endpoints News