Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will pay up to $1.3 billion, including a $150 million up-front payment, for an exclusive right to acquire Promedior Inc. and worldwide rights to the company's lead asset, a recombinant form of human pentraxin-2 protein, called PRM-151, that is in development for the treatment of IPF and myelofibrosis. Read More
Amicus Therapeutics Inc. CEO John Crowley told BioWorld Today his firm won't be the only company working on a therapy for the rare skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB), but the potential $847 million takeover of privately held Scioderm Inc. to bring aboard phase III Zorblisa means a handsome lead over the competition. Read More
HONG KONG – All the recent stock market turbulence notwithstanding, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies continued growing in the first half of 2015, although that growth has slowed. Read More
HONG KONG — A Japanese study has demonstrated how a phospholipid released by the nervous system's glial cells controls the positioning of sensory neurons within the spinal cord, giving rise to the possibility that a lipid-based signaling system could be a therapeutic target for spinal cord injuries. Read More
Now that the market has opened for proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors, the next question is reimbursement. Will payers balk at an annual price tag upward of $14,000 for the new cholesterol-lowering biologics when statins are available for as little as a few dollars a month? Read More
Google's life sciences team is once again delving into the diabetes space, this time through a partnership with Sanofi SA, of Paris. They will work on ways to collect, analyze and understand multiple sources of information impacting diabetes. The move comes just a few weeks after Google entered an agreement with Dexcom Inc. to develop smaller and more affordable continuous glucose monitoring products. Read More
Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Glen Rock, N.J., reported the initial closing of $721,180 from a private placement of up to $3 million of units at $0.02103 per unit. Read More
Mount Tam Biotechnologies Inc., of Novato, Calif., completed its corporate name change and will be traded under the ticker symbol OTCBB:MNTM. Read More
Ipsen SA, of Paris, said The Lancet Neurology published phase III results showing the efficacy and safety of Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA) in post-stroke or traumatic brain injury patients with upper limb spasticity (ULS). Read More