The study design calls for the collection of 5,250 clinical endpoints, and Merck remains blinded to the actual results of the analysis and to other safety and efficacy data

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

Janssen and partner Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, will enroll patients into five global clinical trials, which will involve a total of 28,850 patients

Zealand Pharma A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, disclosed in a pipeline update that it plans to advance danegaptide into a single site clinical efficacy study to further profile the peptide drug in cardio protection

The company plans to use proceeds from the offering to complete clinical development of Ravicti in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and to fund post-approval studies in UCD...Hyperion gained rights to Ravicti from Ucyclyd Pharma Inc., a subsidiary of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp...at the same unit price.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Ridgefield, Conn., part of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, reported the first interim results in HCV/HIV co-infected patients from the company's ongoing hepatitis C (HCV) clinical trial program, HCVerso...Polyphor Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, completed a Phase I trial demonstrating the clinical safety and tolerability of its Pseudomonas-specific antibiotic POL7080...The study compared the efficacy and safety of once-weekly Milprosa to daily 8 percent

Targeted Medical Pharma Inc., of Los Angeles, said results from an open-label study of oral amino acid-based erythrocyte stimulating system (ESS) for the treatment of chronic anemia showed that hemoglobin increased an average of 11.39 percent from baseline measurement to 45 days...Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said VX-787 in a Phase II influenza challenge study resulted in statistically significant improvements in viral and clinical measurements of infection...Also, 93 percent of

The volasertib clinical development program is the company's most advanced in cell cycle inhibition

Dezima Pharma BV, of Naarden, the Netherlands, said it raised €14.2 million (US$18.6 million) for the clinical development of its cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, DEZ-001 (previously TA-8995), and to develop additional earlier-stage dyslipidemia assets...It will use the proceeds to advance its opthalmic programs through clinical proof of concept

Antisense Pharma GmbH, of Regensburg, Germany, revised its business objectives related to the advancement of its next-generation TGF-beta inhibitor oligonucleotide program...In conjunction with the changes in its clinical program, the company said it reduced its work force by 50 percent and outsourced noncritical research and development functions...Kiadis Pharma BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said it received a No Objection Letter from Canadian regulators to proceed with a Phase II study testing

The data, from the latest pre-specified interim analysis of the study, were presented at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla

Two posters feature clinical data of PROSTVAC evaluated as monotherapy or in combination with a radiopharmaceutical...The preliminary results from the studies supported the further clinical investigation in patients suffering from advanced prostate cancer, the company said...BHR Pharma LLC, of Herndon, Va., said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted an orphan medicinal product designation for treating moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to its intravenous progesterone infusion agent

As this money is dispensed through its clinical development programs, the company expects to receive £12 million in government R&D tax credits, bringing the total pot to £60 million...Pharma doesn't want more questions than answers, so you can't do development on a shoestring or cut corners...The total amount raised in the private placement is $7.9 million.

Acceleron Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it started a Phase II study testing dalantercept (ACE-041), an angiogenesis inhibitor designed to target the activin receptor-like kinase pathway, in combination with Inlyta (axitinib, Pfizer Inc.), a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma...Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, inked a clinical collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a unit of

Cerulean Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said the first patient was dosed in a Phase II study of CRLX101, a nanopharmaceutical designed to inhibit both topoisomerase 1 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha, in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer sensitive to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy...The goal of the trial will be first to find optimum dosing of the drug, and second to assess safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and clinical activity in disease-specific cohorts of at least

ASG-5ME is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting the SLC44A4 antigen and is being co-development with Agensys Inc., an affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc...Data were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco

Tivozanib – an oral, once-daily, VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, partnered by AVEO with Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo – turned up pleasing results in the Phase III trial that compared progression-free survival rates with Nexavar (sorafenib, Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.) in kidney cancer, but overall survival (OS) rates caused some eyebrows to rise...Clinical Cancer Research included a paper that suggested the compound, ENMD-2076, acts potently against breast cancer cell lines that lack

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 significant players in the collaboration field," Yanchik said...Together, the three collaborated in the seminal discovery of the first biologically active stapled peptide and translation

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., filed a clinical trial application with the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to initiate a Phase I study of ALN-TTRsc, an RNAi therapeutic targeting transthyretin (TTR), in TTR-mediated amyloidosis...ALN-TTRsc is the first GalNAc-siRNA to enter clinical development...Cerulean Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it dosed the first patient in a Phase II study of lead candidate CRLX101 in advanced gastric cancer