Archive for the 'Markets' Category
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 $85 million to the research institute.
Continue reading ‘J&J Teams up with Sanford-Burnham on Alzheimer’s Pact’
January 26th, 2011 by admin
Eight months after Merck jumped into the driver’s seat to take control of Ariad’s late-stage cancer program ridaforolimus, the biotech is reporting that one of its Phase III study turned in statistically significant results. And the news quickly spurred a 36 percent increase in the biotech’s share price.
Continue reading ‘Ariad Shares Soar after Cancer Drug Clears Late-stage Trial’
January 20th, 2011 by admin
A Holy Grail in the drug-delivery business is the quest for a needle-free way for diabetics to take their insulin. Galway, Ireland-based Aerogen and San Francisco-based Dance Pharmaceuticals believe they have found the secret passageway–through the nose. And they’ve announced a drug-delivery partnership to develop an inhaled-insulin device.
Continue reading ‘Inhaled Insulin Closer to Reality’
January 18th, 2011 by admin
Several big biotech and pharma companies have been buzzing about their plans to launch biosimilar programs now that the FDA is laying out a regulatory pathway for the therapies. Reuters pinned down several CEOs at the JP Morgan event, and Amgen’s Kevin Sharer as well as Biogen Idec’s George Scangos talked up plans to fire up some follow-up programs of their own.
Continue reading ‘Big Biotech Joins Big Pharma in Hunt for Biosimilars’
January 17th, 2011 by admin
A new cigarette tax and a stop-smoking drug were a match made in Japan, and it might have been heaven if Pfizer ($PFE) hadn’t fumbled. The drugmaker, which sells its Chantix remedy as Champix in Japan, knew the higher tax was coming, advertised its drug heavily, and then failed to make enough to satisfy demand.
Continue reading ‘Pfizer Bungles Tax-Fueled Champix Surge’
January 14th, 2011 by admin
A unit of Footstar Corp., a holding company, has agreed to acquire CPEX Pharmaceuticals for $76.6 million in cash. The bid is worth $27.25 a share–more than twice what it was a year ago as back-to-back quarterly profits helped fuel investor interest. CPEX focuses on what it calls a “drug delivery platform technology.” Platform, of course, is a key word that implies it’s not just a one-shot deal, but a model for a whole family of drug-delivery applications. This likely made CPEX more attractive.
Continue reading ‘Footstar to acquire CPEX’s Drug-Delivery Technology’
January 7th, 2011 by admin
Coupons work. That’s what drugmakers have discovered from the co-pay assistance they’ve been offering to shore up demand for aging branded drugs (Pfizer’s statin Lipitor), create demand for new ones (such as Amgen’s bone drug Xgeva and Novartis’ multiple sclerosis pill Gilenya), and insulate patients from big price increases (Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ narcolepsy treatment Xyrem). As the New York Times reports, sales volume for some of these treatments has doubled, and pharma companies have as much as quadrupled the sticker price for others.
Continue reading ‘Co-pay Help Boosts Drugs, Scares Payers’
January 5th, 2011 by admin
The aggregated proteins strewn about the brain are the hallmark of one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer’s disease. But while these irregular, gunky proteins, called amyloid-β, are believed to contribute to the deterioration of memory and cognitive ability in Alzheimer’s patients, no one knows how they lead to these symptoms, and the severity of the dementia doesn’t directly depend on the amount of amyloid-β plaques found in diseased brains.
Continue reading ‘Alzheimer’s: Therapy for Brain Disease Could Target Blood’
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 30th, 2010 by admin
No, gold-plated liposomes are not a luxury gift that you’d find in your Christmas stocking, but they could someday give cancer patients the gift of life by selectively knocking out cancer cells while leaving healthy ones alone. This holiday gift comes courtesy of Marek Romanowski, an associate professor of biomedical engineering in the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering, along with the grad students in his lab, Xenia Kachur and Sarah Leung.
Continue reading ‘Gold-plated Liposomes an Anti-Cancer Stocking Stuffer’
