Archive for the 'Drug Discovery' Category
February 8th, 2011 by admin
NPS Pharmaceuticals says that it’s on track to file for regulatory approval of Gattex after a late-stage study involving 86 patients demonstrated promising results for reducing the need for IV feeding among a majority of patients with short bowel syndrome. NPS now plans to file in the second half of the year and the news quickly spurred a 30 percent hike in its stock price in pre-market trading.
Continue reading ‘NPS Soars on Positive Ph3 Data for Orphan SBS Drug’
February 1st, 2011 by admin
More drugmakers are seeing potential in the business of producing copycat versions of expensive biotechnology drugs as U.S. guidelines take shape. The topic was at the forefront of plans discussed by several executives at this week’s JP Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco. Kevin Sharer, chief executive officer at Amgen Inc, said the world’s largest maker of branded biotechnology drugs would consider entering the “biosimilars” space, particularly in emerging markets like Asia and South America.
Continue reading ‘Copying Biotech Medicine Attracts More Drugmakers’
January 31st, 2011 by admin
Merck Serono is teaming up with France’s Domain Therapeutics to take aim at a new target for Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Domain will contribute compounds developed from their chemical series in exchange for a €2 million upfront, research funding and up to €132 million ($175 million) in milestones for the first two products.
Continue reading ‘Domain Gets $178M Deal to Develop Parkinson’s Drugs’
January 28th, 2011 by admin
The drug development arm of Johnson & Johnson is joining research forces with scientists at the prestigious Sanford-Burnham Institute in an effort to blaze a relatively short path to new drugs for psychiatric disorders as well as Alzheimer’s. And the collaboration–the latest in a string of R&D pacts that have been struck between pharma companies and academic groups–could reportedly be worth more than $85 million to the research institute.
Continue reading ‘J&J Teams up with Sanford-Burnham on Alzheimer’s Pact’
January 19th, 2011 by admin
Mosquirix, an experimental malaria vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, provides African children with long-lasting protection and reduces the risk of infection by the parasite that causes severe malaria by 46 percent over 15 months, according to researchers.
Continue reading ‘GSK Malaria Vax Shows Promising Results’
January 10th, 2011 by admin
Big upfront fees are out. Milestones are in. Partnerships will stay hot. The IPO window will stay open, despite a lackluster record in 2010. And investor confidence will grow, helping public biotech companies outperform the general market.
Continue reading ‘Burrill Predicts Big Surge in Biotech Buyouts for 2011′
December 31st, 2010 by admin
Novartis has submitted its meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero to the EU for marketing approval. “The Bexsero submission in the EU is an important milestone toward achieving the world’s first broad-coverage MenB vaccine through our unique multi-component approach,” said Andrin Oswald, head of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Division. “Meningococcal disease is sudden and aggressive, leaving little time for treatment. Proactive vaccination of individuals has been shown to offer the best protection against fatal infectious diseases.
Continue reading ‘Novartis Files for Bexsero Approval’
December 27th, 2010 by admin
The emerging-markets gold rush continues. Drugmakers continued their race into those fast-growing, tantalizing new markets. India, China, Brazil, Russia, Mexico–all so alluring in a world in which countries that could once be counted on for steady increases are no longer delivering.
Continue reading ‘Big Pharma Still Big on Emerging Markets’
December 22nd, 2010 by admin
In a rare victory against AIDS, German scientists say that three years after a unique stem cell transplant was tried on a patient, “cure of HIV has been achieved in this” man. This is the first time anyone has been pronounced cured of the disease. But as New Scientist notes, their radical therapy strategy offers no hope for the tens of millions of people around the world with the lethal virus.
Continue reading ‘First HIV “Cure” Comes with a Very Big Catch’
December 14th, 2010 by admin
MedGadget blog tells us about a new dry powder inhaler that, according to Cambridge Consultants and India’s Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC), delivers an even drug dose deep into the lungs no matter how strong the patient’s inhalation.
Continue reading ‘Dry Powder Inhaler Stays Strong Even if Breath is Weak’
