If the FDA follows through on an advisory committee's recommendations, patients may finally have drug options to fight two conditions that can lead to permanent loss of vision. Read More
As expected, the FDA gave the green light on Thursday to Amarin Corp. plc's Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) capsules (formerly known as AMR101) as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride (TG) levels in adult patients with severe (TG greater than or equal to 500 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia. Read More
Orphan disease firm Hyperion Therapeutics Inc. priced its initial public offering (IPO), shaving the price from the midpoint of $12 per share cited in its amended S-1 filing earlier this month to $10 per share – $1 below the proposed range – but upsizing the offering from 4.2 million to 5 million shares. Read More
Celgene Corp., of Summit, N.J., exceeded analysts' estimates modestly in its second-quarter earnings report, turning in total revenues of $1.367 billion, a 16 percent increase over the second quarter of 2011. Those revenue increases were led by growing sales of multiple myeloma blockbuster Revlimid (lenolidomide). Read More
Amgen Inc.'s second-quarter figures blasted past expectations, as the Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based firm reported after market close Thursday total revenues of $4.5 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.83, compared to consensus estimates of $4.1 billion and $1.54 per share. Read More
• Cardium Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, published preclinical findings demonstrating that cardiac ischemia plays an important role in adenovector gene delivery in mammalian hearts. Read More
• Infectex, of Moscow, said it received approval from the Russian Ministry of Health to begin a pivotal clinical trial for antibiotic SQ109 in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients at TB centers in three major Russian cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Ekaterinburg). Read More
• Merck Serono SA, of Geneva, said it decided not to accept the recommendation issued by the Geneva Chamber of Collective Labour Relations further to the conciliation process, which was held from July 3 to July 18, between the management of Merck Serono and the representatives of the employees and the union. Read More
• Merck and Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., published results in Nature showing that a histone deacetylase may dislodge reservoirs of hidden virus in patients being treated for HIV. Read More