• Berg Pharma LLC, of Boston, entered a partnership with the Department of Defense under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences' Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR) and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc. Terms of the collaboration will involve Berg and CPDR working to uncover more accurate biomarkers and better therapies for patients. Berg will lend its computational biology expertise and its Interrogative Biology platform to CPDR's supply of prostate cancer data.
• Bio-Path Holdings Inc., of Houston, said a scientific assay confirmed that its lead product candidate, BP-100-1.01 (liposomal Grb-2) inhibits the disease-causing target protein in patients with blood cancers. The assay was applied to patient samples taken from the firm's Phase I trial testing the product in blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. BP-100-1.01 is designed to block the production of Grb-2.
• Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., said it entered an agreement to acquire from Pernix Therapeutics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, certain assets from its subsidiary, Cypress Pharmaceuticals, for $30 million. Assets include 11 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) filed with the FDA, certain ANDAs in various stages of development and seven previously marketed products.
• Celgene Corp., of Summit, N.J., said its Swiss subsidiary announced European Commission approval for pomalidomide in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in adults who have received at least two prior therapies, including both Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Velcade (bortezomib, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co.) and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy. Celgene intends to launch the drug, branded Imnovid in Europe, following submission of a regulatory notification to change the trade name. Pomalidomide was approved in February in the U.S., where it is sold as Pomalyst. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 11, 2013.)
• Columbia Laboratories Inc., of Boston, said it effected a 1-for-8 reverse stock split, as of Aug. 9, reducing the number of outstanding shares from about 87.7 million to about 10.97 million.
• Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said it is partnering with Idis Ltd. to initiate a managed access program for carfilzomib in certain countries in Europe for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including Velcade (bortezomib, Millenniun: The Takeda Oncology Co.) and an immunomodulatory agent and have demonstrated disease progression on or within 60 days of completion of the last therapy.
• Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Toronto, said it entered an option agreement to exclusively license worldwide rights to a series of prostate cancer stem cell assets from the University of York, UK, originating from research funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research. Specific terms were not disclosed but will include an initial license consideration, milestone payments, royalties on sales and sublicensing terms.
• Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, said it plans to spin off its FV-100 assets into a separate publicly traded company, Contravir Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has filed a Form 10 registration statement with the SEC. The separation contemplates a 100 percent distribution of the Contravir shares of common stock, now held by Synergy, to Synergy's stockholders on a pro-rata basis. Contravir expects to look for a new chief executive upon completion of the separation. The move is intended to separate FV-100, an orally available nucleoside analogue prodrug of CF-1743 for shingles, from the rest of Synergy's pipeline, which includes guanylate cyclase-C agonists plecanatide and SP-333 for gastrointestinal indications.
• Thallion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Montreal, and Bellus Health Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said, in accordance to their June 17 acquisition agreement, Thallion delivered a notice to Bellus indicating that it negotiated a final and binding agreement releasing it from its obligations under a lease dated Dec. 2, 2010, in exchange for the payment of an amount less than the provision for the termination of such a lease included in the minimum net cash component disclosed Aug. 2. The cash component has been increased to be $0.0124 per common share, resulting in the cash component of the consideration to be received by Thallion's shareholders of the effectiveness of the arrangement being $0.1889 per share.