Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said the independent data and safety monitoring board for the pivotal VALOR trial completed its latest period safety review and recommended that the study continue as planned without changes

Oxigene Inc., of South San Francisco, said final results of FACT study (Fosbretabulin in Anaplastic Cancer of the Thyroid) a randomized controlled global trial in anaplastic thyroid cancer published in Thyroid, which suggested a survival benefit in patients who received Zybrestat and chemotherapy vs

The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute presented results for MPDL3280A, a cancer candidate by Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco

Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, started METEOR, a Phase III pivotal trial comparing cabozantinib to everolimus (Afinitor, Novartis) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have experienced disease progression following treatment with at least one prior VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor

Alios BioPharma Inc., of South San Francisco, began oral dosing of ALS-8176 in a Phase I trial...Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, published a paper in the July 2013 issue of Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy detailing the advantages of voxaroxin over anthracycline therapy

Jennerex Biotherapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, and Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, said enrollment in the 120-patient TRAVERSE Phase IIb study testing Pexa-Vec (JX-594/TG6006, pexastimogene devacirepvec) for the treatment of advanced primary liver cancer in patients who failed prior therapy with Nexavar (sorafenib, Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer Ag) is complete...Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said it is advancing three programs in development

Data were presented at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., will present 18 research posters on Latuda (lurasidone HCl), an atypical antipsychotic indicated for the treatment of adult patients with schizophrenia, at the 166th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in San Francisco

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Berkeley, Calif., and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said the FDA approved Bayer's Stivarga (regorafenib) for metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor previously treated with imatinib mesylate and sunitinib malate

Jennerex Biotherapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, said data demonstrating the ability of its lead product candidate, Pexa-Vec (JX-594, pexastimogene devacirepvec) to induce functional anticancer immunity, both in patients with diverse solid tumor types and in animal models has been published in the May 15 issue of Science Translational Medicine

Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, Calif., reported safety and efficacy data from a Phase II proof-of-concept study of PRT4445 of Eliquis (apixaban) in healthy volunteers

Medgenics Inc., of San Francisco, said there have not been any procedure- or drug-related serious adverse events in the first four patients treated in the Phase IIa trial in Israel of Epodure biopumps for anemia in those on dialysis with end-stage renal disease...Oxigene Inc., of South San Francisco, completed enrollment of 110 patients in a Phase II trial of the antiangiogenic therapeutic Zybrestat (fosbretabulin) plus bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech Inc.) to treat advanced ovarian cancer

Nektar Therapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, said partner Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, initiated patient enrollment in a Phase III program to test adjunctive aerosolized BAY41-6551 vs

Cytokinetics Inc., of South San Francisco, initiated a Phase I trial of CK-2127107 in healthy male volunteers

In separate news, InSite said the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed by a split decision the ruling of the Patent and Trademark Office panel of judges, which found in favor of the company in its patent interference litigation with the University of California, San Francisco, and confirmed inventorship of InSite patents protecting AzaSite, AzaSite Xtra and AzaSite Plus

Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, said it entered a nonexclusive collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, for a Phase IIa trial testing an interferon-free, all-oral, direct-acting antiviral combination treatment for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said researchers from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at Oxford University presented results from the HPS2-THRIVE (Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events) study of Tredaptive (extended-release niacin/laropiprant) during the late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiology 62nd Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco...Findings were presented during the late-breaking clinical trial session

The findings were reported in a late-breaking session at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco and published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology

Data will be presented this weekend at the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Francisco