By Cormac Sheridan Staff Writer DUBLIN, Ireland – Elan Corp. plc continues to execute its M&A strategy at a dizzying pace, while its would-be acquirer, Royalty Pharma, has tabled a revised offer for the company, worth $12.50 per share or $6.37 billion. On Monday, Elan unveiled an acquisition agreement with AOP Pharmaceuticals AG worth €263.5 million (US$339.3 million) in cash (€175.7 million) and shares (€87.8 million) initially – plus another potential €270 million in milestones – and a deal to
The Cell Therapy Catapult, which focuses on the development of the UK cell therapy industry, said it will work with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc to explore potential collaborations in a range of areas relevant to the development of cell therapies, from research projects to technical and regulatory strategy. GSK is developing a bone marrow-derived stem cell gene therapy through late phase development and has a small number of collaborations in that field.
Last month's FDA workshop for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – the first of its kind, one of 20 mandated by the Prescription Drug User Fee Act – hardly transformed the treatment landscape in the aftermath of the agency's refusal to approve the Toll-like receptor 3 modulator Ampligen (rintatolimod), the CFS therapy from Hemispherx Bioscience Inc. But patients and their advocacy groups were given hope, and the FDA is taking comments from the public until August
By Randy Osborne | BioWorld Today | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
AB Science SA, of Paris, began a Phase III trial of masitinib, a drug it already has studied broadly in cancer indications, in Alzheimer's disease. The company documented significant efficacy for masitinib in Phase II as an add-on to standard care over 24 weeks, with improvement in cognitive function and functional capacity in the treatment group, plus sustained and statistically significant response on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Cooperative Study Activities on Daily Living (ADAS-ADL
By Catherine Shaffer | BioWorld Today | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
LONDON – As pharma's quest for pipeline-boosting innovation pushes further into academia, GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) has launched Discovery Fast Track to accelerate the translation of target biology into drug candidates. The company is organizing a competition in which academics submit a one-page application outlining a novel drug development concept. Ten winners will get access to GSK facilities to scale up biological reagents and develop assays to underpin high-throughput screening against the
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld Today | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Addex Therapeutics SA, of Geneva, said its gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABA-B) receptor positive allosteric modulator, ADX71441, caused dose-dependent changes in growth hormone (GH) plasma concentrations compared to vehicle control in a rodent preclinical model. The data were consistent with published scientific literature demonstrating that GABA, the endogenous neurotransmitter for GABA-B receptors, plays both a stimulatory and inhibitory role in modulating the neuroendocrine regulation of GH
Late Monday, Pfizer Inc. disclosed its decision to halt a Phase III trial (B1931008) of inotuzumab ozogamicin, an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) composed of a monoclonal antibody targeting CD22, administered in combination with Rituxan (rituximab, Roche AG and Biogen Idec Inc.), in relapsed or refractory CD22-positive aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). New York-based Pfizer said it would discontinue development of the drug in NHL after an independent data monitoring
By Marie Powers | BioWorld Today | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The growth equity arm of Novo A/S has clocked up its first major pharmaceutical investment, a $700 million buyout of generic antibiotics developer and manufacturer Xellia Pharmaceuticals AS, under a new investment strategy it formulated more than a year ago. The deal exemplifies Hellerup, Denmark-based Novo's intentions to build large-scale, long-term positions in mature, low-risk companies. That represents a shift from its original strategy, involving earlier-stage companies approaching
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld Today | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
AstraZeneca plc, of London, said results from two pivotal Phase III studies of naloxegol showed that the 25-mg dose met its primary and secondary endpoints for efficacy and showed a safety profile consistent with previous studies. Naloxegol is a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist in development for opioid-induced constipation. Data were presented at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Orlando, Fla. Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, reported that tiotropium
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, completed its public offering of 9.2 million shares, including 1.2 million shares sold to cover overallotments, priced at $12.50 per share, for gross proceeds of $115 million. Funds will be used to support ongoing and new clinical trials and development and commercialization of Parkinson's psychosis drug pimavanserin and for general corporate purposes. Epizyme Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., set terms for its proposed initial public offering (IPO), aiming
Embryonic stem cells have been the subject of so many political fights that it's easy to forget they have also faced formidable scientific obstacles. But they have. Human eggs, it turns out, are far more fragile than those of most other mammals – including those of other primates. And so, methods that have been used to clone mammals from Dolly the sheep to Snuppy, the cloned dog that was South Korean stem cell scientist Woo-Suk Hwang's only non-fraudulent claim to fame, have failed to produce
By Anette Breindl and Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The growth equity arm of Novo A/S has clocked up its first major pharmaceutical investment, a $700 million buyout of generic antibiotics developer and manufacturer Xellia Pharmaceuticals AS, under a new investment strategy it formulated more than a year ago. The deal exemplifies Hellerup, Denmark-based Novo's intentions to build large-scale, long-term positions in mature, low-risk companies. That represents a shift from its original strategy, involving earlier-stage companies approaching
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
LONDON – Merck Serono is enlarging its venture fund from €40 million to €100 million (US$51 million to $128 million) – increasing its capacity to invest in early stage companies, technologies and products that can be shaped up for the company's internal pipeline. "We started four years ago with €40 million, and that was always on the understanding it was not enough for a sustainable long-term fund," said Roel Bulthuis, head of the MS Ventures fund. "What the organization has seen is that the
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Baliopharm GmbH, a subsidiary of Baliopharm AG, of Basel, Switzerland, joined the NEU2 Consortium with a project addressing the recombinant manufacturing of an Fc-free bispecific CD20-CD95 antibody construct (Novotarg) with selectivity for activated B cells and efficacy studies in disease models relevant to multiple sclerosis therapy. The two-year project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, signed an agreement to acquire the
DUBLIN, Ireland – Elan Corp. plc continues to execute its M&A strategy at a dizzying pace, while its would-be acquirer, Royalty Pharma, has tabled a revised offer for the company, worth $12.50 per share or $6.37 billion. On Monday, Elan unveiled an acquisition agreement with AOP Pharmaceuticals AG worth €263.5 million (US$339.3 million) in cash (€175.7 million) and shares (€87.8 million) initially – plus another potential €270 million in milestones – and a deal to acquire a 48 percent stake in
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
LONDON – Peptides that can boost the immune response to bacteria could lead to a novel therapy for sepsis – and may also make it possible to develop a new generation of vaccines. Mice given the peptides were able to eliminate bacteria faster in a murine model of bacterial peritonitis. In addition, when the peptides were added to blood taken from patients with sepsis-induced immunosuppression, the treatment was able to rescue the blood cells' ability to mount an inflammatory response. The
By Sharon Kingman | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
LONDON – As pharma's quest for pipeline-boosting innovation pushes further into academia, GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) has launched Discovery Fast Track to accelerate the translation of target biology into drug candidates. The company is organizing a competition in which academics submit a one-page application outlining a novel drug development concept. Ten winners will get access to GSK facilities to scale up biological reagents and develop assays to underpin high-throughput screening against the
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
By Mari Serebrov Washington Editor The backlog of new applications is growing again at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), thanks in part to sequestration. Using new fees included in the 2011 patent reform to hire and train more examiners, the office had been plowing through the backlog, reducing the pile of nearly 722,000 applications in December 2010 to about 593,000 in February. But since the sequester hit in March, the backlog has grown to more than 600,000. And patent experts expect it
By Cormac Sheridan Staff Writer DUBLIN, Ireland – Elan Corp. plc continues to execute its M&A strategy at a dizzying pace, while its would-be acquirer, Royalty Pharma, has tabled a revised offer for the company, worth $12.50 per share or $6.37 billion. On Monday, Elan unveiled an acquisition agreement with AOP Pharmaceuticals AG worth €263.5 million (US$339.3 million) in cash (€175.7 million) and shares (€87.8 million) initially – plus another potential €270 million in milestones – and a deal to