Eli Lilly and Co. stepped into the leading role in another effort to develop an oral beta secretase cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor in Alzheimer's disease (AD), this time with fellow pharma Astrazeneca plc.
Eager investors drove shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNR) to a 52-week high of $13.09 Monday after the company reported phase II data on AVP-923 to treat agitation in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Shares closed the day at $12.49 for a gain of $5.75, or 85.3 percent, on volume of more than 87 million – 40 times the company's daily average.
Shares of Receptos Inc. (NASDAQ:RCPT) spiked 20 percent last week, hitting a 52-week high of $61.13 on Thursday, after the abstract was posted for Saturday's late-breaker podium presentation at MS Boston 2014 of the complete dataset from the phase II portion of the company's phase II/III RADIANCE trial of RPC1063 in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc.'s ferric citrate will go to market after approval Friday by the FDA, two days before the drug's Sunday PDUFA date. But the agency rescinded approval of the long-used trade name Zerenex, forcing the company to go back to the drawing board for a name that passes muster.
Big pharma is discovering that one of most important factors to accelerate the pace of drug development is to reduce the physical distance between internal R&D labs and external partners. Consequently, most have set up R&D hubs close to ground zero of drug discovery – in major U.S. cities with important academic and medical centers that boast a highly skilled work force and access to risk capital.
Shares of Flexion Therapeutics Inc. got a boost Thursday morning after the company disclosed plans to launch a pivotal phase III trial of lead candidate FX006 by year-end and to complete the study by the end of 2015 – a year earlier than initially planned.
Following Tuesday's market close, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported top-line data from the lead-in portion of its two-part phase III IGNITE (Investigating Gram-negative Infections Treated with Eravacycline) 2 trial, showing that both intravenous (I.V.)-to-oral dosing regimens of eravacycline (1.5 mg/kg I.V. followed by 200 mg or 250 mg) compared favorably to comparator drug levofloxacin to treat complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs).
After a decade of consolidation that led to blended organizations, shuttered R&D facilities and the shedding of tens of thousands of jobs, big pharma is rebuilding its internal pipeline. This time, however, the footprint looks distinctly different. Instead of constructing giant silos focused on carefully defined projects, the industry is fashioning R&D hubs with flexible designs that are close to the ground floor of discovery.
Legochem Biosciences Inc. (LCB) boasts an intuitive name, hearkening to the use of Lego-like scaffolds to enable the discovery of drug candidates. But the platform is more than a toy for scientists.
Legochem Biosciences Inc. (LCB) boasts an intuitive name, hearkening to the use of Lego-like scaffolds to enable the discovery of drug candidates. But the platform is more than a toy for scientists.
