At the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco this week, researchers presented new data on one drug that can lift depression within an hour of its administration: the anesthetic drug ketamine. (See BioWorld Today, July 6, 2011.) Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine presented data at the conference comparing ketamine injections to those with midazolam, a benzodiazepine, a benzodiazepine that "can mimic the anesthetic effects of ketamine, but should not

The Royalty offer is contingent on Elan's shareholders voting down all of its M&A transactions, including its recent $1 billion cash deal to buy a 21 percent stake in South San Francisco-based Theravance Inc.'s future royalty stream from the respiratory franchise it shares with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc...It was established in 2007 by investment bankers Burrill & Co., of San Francisco, and Kuwait Life Sciences Co., the life sciences arm of Kuwait's National Technology Enterprises Co. (NTEC

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

Inc. (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) $86.5 Exercised option for Merck to exclusively license small-molecule compounds for a target in cardiovascular disease The companies inked the deal in 2009, and under the terms, Xenon received milestone payments and an option fee and is eligible for further research, development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $86.5M 4/18/13 MAY Hyperion Therapeutics Inc. (South San Francisco) Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (Montreal) $13-$22 Hyperion

Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, reported that South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc., a unit of the Roche Group, and Weston, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc

Scientists at Bayer HealthCare's U.S. Innovation Center in San Francisco will work collaboratively with counterparts at QB3 and Mission Bay Capital in the structured public-private partnership, with QB3 bringing up to 60 companies a year from its network for Bayer to evaluate for potential partnerships

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

Daniel S. Chen, associate group director and global development team leader for the anti-PD-L1 program at South San Francisco-based Genentech, agreed that targeting PD-L1 represents cutting-edge cancer therapeutic development

The deal implies a valuation of $4.76 billion for Theravance's future royalty income from the four-product franchise, which suggests that the market considerably undervalues the South San Francisco-based biotech firm

The deal implies a valuation of $4.76 billion for Theravance's future royalty income from the four-product franchise, which suggests that the market considerably undervalues the South San Francisco-based biotech firm

San Francisco) Cometriq Cabozantinib Castration-resistant prostate cancer Bone metastases showed a 67% rate of bone scan response and other clinical signs of effect 4/12/13 Onconova Therapeutics Inc. (Newtown, Pa.) Rigosertib A dual pathway inhibitor Solid tumors Phase I data showed tolerability and favorable antitumor activity 4/11/13 Pharmacyclics Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) Ibrutinib Oral agent Chronic lymphocytic leukemia Phase II data showed that 95% of patients experienced a reduction in

San Francisco) Zybrestat Antiangiogenic therapeutic

South San Francisco-based Theravance's shares (NASDAQ:THRX) jumped 11.6 percent on news from the FDA, closing Friday at $34.94, up $3.63

Kadcyla is marketed by Roche AG unit Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco

San Francisco) CK-2127107 Molecule activator of the fast skeletal muscle troponin complex Conditions associated with neuromuscular dysfunction, muscular weakness and/or muscle fatigue Started a Phase I trial 4/2/13 Immunomic Therapeutics Inc. (Lancaster, Pa.) JRC-LAMP-vax Immunothera-peutic vaccine Red cedar allergy Phase I data showed it met all of its primary safety endpoints 4/25/13 Lipocine Inc. (Salt Lake City) LPCN 1111 Next-generation oral testosterone replacement product Testosterone

Company (Location) Product Description Indication Status Date AUTOIMMUNE Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (South San Francisco) and AstraZeneca plc (London) Fostamatinib Oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor Rheumatoid arthritis Missed the X-ray endpoint of modified Total Sharp score, but hit statistical significance in ACR20 scoring, although the Phase III still fell short of those achieved by Pfizer Inc.'s approved Xeljanz 4/8/13 CANCER Array BioPharma Inc. (Boulder, Colo.) ARRY-520 A selective KSP

Curis earned a $4 million milestone payment from Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco (a unit of Roche AG), as a result of the Australian approval

once-daily Multiple sclerosis Was approved in Argentina in a 14 mg formulation for patients with relapsing forms 4/9/13 CANCER Celgene Corp. (Summit, N.J.) Revlimid Lenalidomide Transfusion-dependent anemia CHMP adopted a positive opinion for Revlimid 4/29/13 Curis Inc. (Lexington, Mass.) Erivedge Vismodegib Symptomatic metastatic basal cell carcinoma CHMP recommended conditional approval 4/29/13 Medivation Inc. (San Francisco) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo) Xtandi Enzalutamide Metastatic