In its latest matchmaking round, the National Institutes of Health awarded $12.7 million for cooperative agreements between pharma companies and nine academic research groups to potentially repurpose failed compounds

Ablynx NV, of Ghent, Belgium, will make an oral and poster presentation for arthritis candidate, ALX-0061, at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Madrid, Spain, showing a strong efficacy and safety profile for the drug in a Phase II study. Pooled data at 24 weeks of treatment demonstrated that ALX-0061 led to an improvement of 84 percent in ACR20 and 58 percent DAS28 remission. At all doses, the drug was well tolerated with no clinically relevant neutropenia, no clinically

The Appraisal Committee of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) of the UK issued a positive appraisal of Iluvien (fluocinolone acetonide), by Alimera Sciences Inc., of Atlanta, for pseudophakic patients with chronic diabetic macular edema that is insufficiently responsive to available therapies

Faced with the prospect of dwindling resources from the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies, both initiatives have merit, he maintained

The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence provisionally recommended Jetrea (ocriplasmin) by Thrombogenics NV, of Leuven, Belgium, for reimbursement within the National Health Service, for treatment of vitreomacular traction in adults when associated with a macular hole of less than or equal to 400 microns, and when patients have severe symptoms and an epiretinal membrane is not present

Hoping to accelerate the development of new drugs, the National Institutes of Health set up the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Andromeda Biotech Ltd., of Yavne, Israel, reported findings from an extension study of its Phase III trial of DiaPep277 in Type I diabetes. The open-label, 24-month extension study was designed to evaluate long-term safety, tolerability and efficacy for two years following the completion of the Phase III study, DIA-AID 1 in November 2011. Forty-three patients who completed two years in the DIA-AID 1 study and who had residual beta cell function (stimulated C-peptide over 0.2 nmol/L) were

The National Institutes of Health is recruiting subjects for the GRADE trial, which will compare the long-term benefits and risks of four widely used diabetes drugs in combination with metformin

Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG, of Liestal, Switzerland, said it obtained an exclusive license from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to rights on a patent granted in the U.S

The first-in-man trial will be undertaken by the National Institute of Health Research Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, based at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research at Newcastle University, as well as at least one other clinical center

NIH to Compare Diabetes Drugs The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is recruiting subjects for the GRADE trial, which will compare the long-term benefits and risks of four widely used diabetes drugs in combination with metformin

Company (Location) Funding Institution Amount (US$M) Type Details Date MARCH Actinobac Biomed Inc. (New Brunswick, N.J.) National Institutes of Health $0.202 Grant To study its drug candidate, Leukothera, in B-cell lymphomas 3/29/13 Addex Therapeutics SA (Geneva) Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research $1 Grant To help fund continued human studies of dipraglurant in Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia 3/20/13 Atlantic Healthcare Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) UK's Technology

Fiscal 2015 could shape up to be an even tighter budget year for federal agencies like the FDA and National Institutes of Health

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence recommended Eylea (aflibercept), by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., for wet age-related macular degeneration

2015 May Bring Deeper Cuts Fiscal 2015 could shape up to be an even tighter budget year for federal agencies like the FDA and National Institutes of Health (NIH

The first-in-man trial will be undertaken by the National Institute of Health Research Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, based at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research at Newcastle University, as well as at least one other clinical center

The firm obtained roughly €25 million from the likes of the National Institutes of Health, the European Union, the Medical Research Council and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A third Phase I/II National Institutes of Health-sponsored trial in the prevention of nosocomial infections in preterm infants favored Talactoferrin, but the result was not statistically significant