shored up its balance sheet in a $36 million private offering to advance pipeline work, including planned clinical trials of ARC-520, an RNAi-based drug in chronic HBV infection...The firm also has programs in two big pharma partnerships...Shares of Supernus (NASDAQ:SUPN) lost 3 cents Monday to close at $5.12.

Critics of the firm, too, have pointed to the lack of a big pharma partner to expand Qsymia's reach. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 23, 2012.) Lief said Belviq already has picked up some momentum...The drug was included in a recent diabetes management report from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists...Allergan licensed rights to the Darpin technology from Molecular Partners AG for development in AMD and other eye diseases. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 22, 2012.) And Eylea has fared well so

Aileron also is advancing stapled peptide candidates in collaboration with Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, including ATSP-7041 , an inhibitor of MDM2 and MDMX in p53-dependent cancers...Aileron's pharma investors, including Roche, hold traditional venture stakes in the company, with no rights of first look or first refusal, according to Yanchik...While continuing to converse with big pharma, Aileron also is exploring potential relationships with mid-cap and large biotechs, which are "becoming more

Cerulean Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said CRLX101 achieved the predefined gating criterion for advancement into the second stage of a Phase II trial in advanced ovarian cancer...That allows Lorus to initiate a biomarker clinical investigation to further explore the effects of the drug at relevant doses determined in the trial...The complete clinical study report for the interim analysis would be supplied to the FDA during the review within 60 days of the resubmission

Noting a trend for pharma companies to engage in more collaborations and acquisitions in order to supplement their pipelines with new technology, Lammers said he could envision such an outcome for Mirna...Given the interest of big pharma in microRNA companies, including Mirna, I'm convinced if we have strong human proof-of-concept data in the clinic, most likely pharma will be interested in stepping up to the plate," Lammers said

The clinical relevance of neratinib as a 'pan-HER' family inhibitor and it being irreversible is yet to be proven," the paper said...Funds will be used to support the clinical development of cancer drugs aldoxorubicin and tamibarotene and for general corporate purposes, which could include working capital, capital expenditures, R&D and commercial activities.

Proacta Inc., of San Diego, said the FDA cleared its investigational new drug application for clinical testing of PR610, a hypoxia-activated, irreversible multikinase inhibitor aimed at treating cancer...The company anticipates initially focusing on patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who have developed resistance to reversible tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as Tarceva (erlotinib, Roche AG and Astellas Pharma Inc.) and/or Iressa (gefitinib, AstraZeneca plc...The first clinical study, to be

The company is partnered with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., of Osaka, Japan, and recently expanded the collaboration to develop a second protein therapeutic for an undisclosed orphan disease using Synageva's development capabilities and protein expression platform...The company plans to use the proceeds to complete clinical development of lead candidate dalbavancin, currently in a second pivotal Phase III trial in skin infections, and to fund commercialization activities in the U.S...LLC and CRT

Cerulean Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., completed enrollment in a Phase II trial of CRLX101, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and dosed its first patient in a Phase Ib/IIa trial of the same product in combination with Avastin (bevacizumab, Roche AG) in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC

Antisense Pharma GmbH, of Regensburg, Germany presented complete data from its Phase I/II study of trabedersen, an antisense compound that specifically inhibits expression of transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-β2) – a protein which is overexpressed in advanced tumors – in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, malignant melanoma or colorectal cancer...Separately, Celgene also reported results from a study comparing Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus Rituxan (rituximab, Biogen Idec Inc. and Roche

Patients who have not previously received chemotherapy will be enrolled to receive tesetaxel once every three weeks, tesetaxel once weekly for three weeks or Xeloda (capecitabine, Roche AG) twice per day for 14 days...ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd., of Woodland Hills, Calif., will present new data from its previously completed Phase I trial of ICT-107 in glioblastomoa multiforme at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago

Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said Phase II data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology confirmed preclinical findings and demonstrated an improved overall survival in a subset of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with tumors expressing elevated levels of E-cadherin treated with the company's HDAC inhibitor entinostat in combination with EGFR inhibitor Tarceva (erlotinib, Astellas Pharma Inc. and Roche AG

Three smashing clinical successes by Gilead Sciences Inc.'s nuc drug GS-7977 for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have lit up the 2012 International Liver Congress of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, sending the company's stock up 12 percent Thursday...Roche AG reported that its interferon-free regimen danoprevir/mericitabine yielded SVR12 of 26 percent and 71 percent in genotype 1a and genotype 1b patients, respectively, putting it far behind BMS/Gilead and Abbott

Assuming the final clinical study report supports the preliminary findings, RedHill said it will consider filing for U.S...RedHill licensed rights to the extended-release version of the anti-emetic drug, dubbed RHB-102, from Scolr Pharma Inc., of Bothell, Wash...Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said investigators in the department of breast medical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center initiated a Phase I/II study combining lead product entinostat with lapatinib

The Phase I/II study will involve a dose-escalation portion, followed by an expansion cohort testing the drug in NSCLC patients who have failed EGFR-directed therapies such as Tarceva (erlotinib, Astellas Pharma Inc. and Roche AG) and Iressa (gefitinib, AstraZeneca plc) and have developed the T790M mutation...The findings, reported online in Stem Cells, indicated one patient showed improved clinical status, although the study was not designed to show efficacy

Serendipitously, independent clinical studies of the antecedent biomarkers of AD seem to have corroborated Satori's approach, he added...Despite the huge number of failures, small and large pharma companies have been pouring billions of dollars into the development of molecules that leave a lot to be desired...The company also has an exclusive distribution agreement with Uman Pharma Inc., of Quebec, to commercialize gemcitabine in the U.S. The compound went off patent last year in the U.S

support clinical development of chemotherapeutic gold nanoparticles targeting ovarian, lung and breast carcinoma...Syndexa Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Watertown, Mass., secured additional Series B1 financing from MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH), a jointly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC...The company plans to use the proceeds to advance its hepatitis C virus program, earlier-stage pipeline opportunities and its

Acacia Pharma Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it started a Phase II study of APD421, a drug that comprises an intravenous formulation of a marketed dopamine D2 antagonist, in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting...Bionor Pharma ASA, of Oslo, Norway, and partners Eurocine Vaccines AB, of Solna, Sweden, and Oslo University Hospital reported that the nasal immunization study combining Bionor's Vacc-4x and Eurocine's adjuvant Endocine is fully enrolled...Additional data showed 69 percent of

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., presented new clinical data for Feraheme (ferumoxytol), which is approved for iron deficiency anemia in chronic kidney disease...Clavis Pharma ASA, of Oslo, Norway, reported interim efficacy data from a Phase II trial showing that elacytarabine in combination with idarubicin produced a complete remission rate in about 46 percent (12 of 26) of patients with early stage acute myeloid leukemia who had failed cytarabine-containing first-course