said it had agreed to buy Esperion for $1.3 billion, adding to its basket ETC-216 and several other product candidates that emerged from the biotechnology company's research into raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good cholesterol...Esperion's shares skyrocketed by more than 52 percent on news of the merger, which is expected to close at the end of next year's first quarter, after which the firm will operate as a division of the Pfizer Global Research and Development organization and

Sixty-one percent of the patients on the drug died from cancer or other causes, as compared to 52 percent of those given placebo...Whether it is exclusive to that cancer type or not, other analysts noted, the labels for Aranesp and Epogen indicate the drug is for patients being treated with chemotherapy, not radiation...Despite the potential for continued volatility stemming from drug pricing debates in Washington and longer-term competitive threats to Amgen's EPO franchise, we believe the company's

The good news was that reductions in spending related to the move led BioMarin to lower its projected net loss by $5 million for 2003 and by $13 million for 2004...It's something to think about," said Shrader, who pointed out the possibility in a research note

The company also was buying from Credit Suisse First Boston International a convertible note hedge strategy with respect to Cephalon's common stock, which has the effect of increasing the effective conversion price of the notes to $72.08 per share, a price that represents a 50 percent premium to the June 5 composite bid on Nasdaq...The last company was GelTex and they bought GelTex to get the other half of Renagel," he said

Investors who have had enough of that are likely to hear plenty of other news to pique their interest...A host of other companies failed to shine, too. (See BioWorld Financial Watch, May 27, 2002.) This year, however, at least a few firms among the army of those presenting could come up winners - even if many are cast into the shadow by the still-resounding Avastin results

To some investors, the notion of therapy for "diet-related obesity" might seem odd, conjuring the picture of some hefty eater loading up on a breakfast of eggs, sausage and pancakes laden with butter and syrup, then popping a pill (or taking a shot) and starting to think about lunch...In the two primary endpoints, a greater proportion of Axokine-treated patients lost at least 5 percent of their initial body weight compared with placebo-treated patients (25.1 percent compared to 17.6 percent, p<0

How to handle the informed-consent matter, especially in testing drugs that might work for early stage, serious diseases, is "a complicated, fascinating issue" that crops up every few years, Lorman told BioWorld Financial Watch...One question regarding the hurdles of informed consent involves whether it's vitally important to find drugs for certain early stage conditions - not just because other early stage treatments might be available, but because in some cases the disease itself moves slowly and

The year's first major high note was FDA word on Aldurazyme (laronidase), the enzyme replacement drug for mucopolysaccharidosis-1 from Genzyme General (a division of Genzyme Corp.) and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (See BioWorld Financial Watch, Jan. 20, 2003.) An advisory panel found the companies' data showed meaningful effects with Aldurazyme, and the FDA's complete response letter followed up to say no more data would be necessary for approval...Effects remain to be seen of last year's move to

Triangle, on the other hand, had candidates behind Coviracil - amdoxivir, a nucleoside analogue in Phase II clinical studies for the treatment of HIV, and clevudine, a nucleoside analogue in Phase I/II studies for hepatitis B. What it needed was the kind of help Gilead could provide, since Triangle over the summer had said goodbye to its Coviracil partner, Abbott Laboratories...And in key data from one Triangle trial, FTC-303, comparing Coviracil with lamivudine, he said, the news is not so good as

But the good results may not translate to the other cancers, since VEGF expression in kidney cancer can be uncommonly high between 30 percent and 100 percent...News from that trial, like the kidney cancer data, was good...Tarceva, like Iressa, is a small-molecule inhibitor of EGFR, but its developers hastened to note "important differences" between the two

That's good news for Amgen, since Neulasta means 25 percent to 50 percent more revenue than Neupogen per cycle, noted Meirav Chovav, analyst with UBS Warburg...The guidance to use 20 percent to 30 percent more drug with IV administration will be removed...Wang noted, though, that the number of patients who developed PRCA with other epoetin products is significantly lower, and PRCA has "not appeared to occur more frequently with the

is continuing to develop Remicade (infliximab) - a TNF inhibitor like Enbrel - for psoriasis...On the other hand, in "the Enbrels and Remicades of the world, you have drugs already on the market, so their CMC packages have passed...It's going to be quite a battle."

Other happy notes included Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp., which disclosed interim results from an ongoing trial of its lead product, the targeted chemotherapeutic Onco TCS, in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma...talk to doctors about clinical parameters," and other such technical matters

But a rose by any other name smells the same ­ and this one stinks, for 10 million to 20 million men over age 18 afflicted with the condition in the U.S...to get a label that says it's in any way superior," Nelson said...to 85 percent efficacious, but in reality, Viagra only works in 55 percent of patients," Nelson said, noting that Cialis should be particularly important "for the younger crowd" or those who insist on spontaneity

Teva seemed to up the ante two days after the Serono and Biogen disclosures last week...Rebif is likely to prove a worthy challenger to Avonex, Biogen's only currently marketed product...Other physicians argue it's not well known how harmful such antibodies might be, given the overall benefit of the drug although Rebif three times per week is hardly as convenient as Avonex's once-weekly dose

In order to understand the possible differences between our drugs and other drugs on the market, we need to understand the pharmacokinetics," Pan said...What happens to shift workers, and individuals who travel across time zones

A bit of old news also got resurrected: $40 million in potential liability related to another JV, this one dating back to the early 1990s, for developing Myotrophin, injectable insulin-like growth factor-1, to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease

In a research note, Lind said ImClone won't discuss timing issues with regard to its ongoing FDA talks, but "if refiling with existing colorectal study results cannot be done, we expect these trials would form the basis of a BLA filing in a refractory head and neck setting by...But what jolted most people was the news about the RTF letter to ImClone, quotes from which likely were "taken out of context," Lind said...Investors, on the other hand not to mention politicians (especially when the season is

By Randall Osborne Editor In the spring of last year, genomics was in bloom and investors could hardly stop to smell any other roses – so eager were they to shovel more cash into what looked like the next sure thing...Also in the report, some less favorable news: The company lost $17.8 million on revenues of $57.3 million, compared to a $7.6 million net loss on $52 million in revenues for the same quarter in 2000...Of the other firms with information to sell, Human Genome Sciences Inc