IPOpalooza Continues with Portola's $122M Offering
Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. has become the latest biotech to go public in a rush driven by surging financial markets. The South San Francisco-based company has become the 12th biotech in the 2013 IPO class, and another dozen are filed and pending, signaling a definitive end to the long wait for markets to regain avid interest in new biotech opportunities following the market crash of 2008.
More Transparency Hasn't Translated into Import Safety
Despite an increase in transparency and collaboration in China, the safety of drugs and other products imported from the country remains a concern in the U.S.
Salix's Topical Budesonide a Hit in Phase III Studies in UC
Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said its two pivotal studies of budesonide foam in active to moderate ulcerative proctitis (UP) or ulcerative proctosigmoiditis (UPS) hit the primary endpoints, with a statistically significant number of patients in the treatment arm achieving clinical remission vs. placebo.
Schizophrenia Joins Reversible Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Over the past few years, a shift has occurred in how researchers think of neurodevelopmental disorders. Such disorders were once considered immutable once the faulty wiring that was presumed to be at their heart was put in place during development.
Oncolytics' First Phase II Data: Another Winner in Melanoma?
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. followed up March's promising data from a Phase II trial testing Reolysin in squamous cell lung cancer with results from a Phase II study in metastatic melanoma, where the reovirus variant for Ras-mutant cancers, combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel, met its primary endpoint in the first stage.
Other News To Note
• Corgenix Medical Corp., of Denver, said it inked a collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, to develop diagnostic technology to support an undisclosed Lilly oncology pipeline program.
Clinic Roundup
• Agenus Inc., Lexington, Mass., started enrollment of a Phase II study with Prophage G-200 (heat shock protein peptide complex-96 or HSPPC-96) vaccine in combination with Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech/Roche) for treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme in adult patients.
Pharma: Other News To Note
• Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said it entered an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to repurchase $5 billion of common stock.
Pharma: Clinic Roundup
• Upsher-Smith Laboratories Inc., of Maple Grove, Minn., completed a global Phase III trial for USL255 (extended-release topiramate), an internally developed program for the management of epilepsy in adults.