STAT+: Roche expands its Boston footprint with new research center

STAT+ reports that Roche is expanding its Boston footprint with a new research center. The item appears in a biotech news roundup that also covers a gene therapy approved for Sanfilippo syndrome, good and bad news for Xenon Pharma, and more biotech news.

The newsletter preview says today’s discussion includes the first gene therapy approval for Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare gene variant linked to dramatically heightened lung cancer risk in non-smokers, and a look ahead to the confirmation hearing for the nominee to lead the FDA.

In a personal note on the Sanfilippo approval, STAT’s Adam Feuerstein writes that he first wrote about efforts to develop a therapy a decade ago. He reflects with melancholy on how many children have declined or died before families could get cutting-edge therapies approved for children who are not their own, but adds that science takes time and biotech can produce a better tomorrow.