Sialix Inc. raised its biotech cred by inking an option agreement to license an undisclosed monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutic program with Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Antabio, a start-up focused on developing drugs to prevent and treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, has exited what it believes is the first successful round of crowdfunding for a French biotech.

Analysts were exuberant after Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. disclosed results Saturday from an interim analysis of the Phase IIb portion of its GALAXY (Ganetespib Assessment in Lung cAncer with docetaXel) trial of ganetespib, the company's lead heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, as second-line treatment in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2012 Congress in Vienna, Austria.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals wasted no time moving the oral multikinase inhibitor Stivarga (regorafenib) to market in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) following FDA approval Thursday morning.

The White House issued a report Tuesday from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommending a doubling in the output of new drugs over the next decade, while increasing drug efficacy and safety. The report cited scientific knowledge gaps between basic research and commercial projects and inefficiency in the conduct of clinical trials as primary causes of the burgeoning cost of drug development, without commensurate increases in drug approvals.

Like Leonardo da Vinci's famously proportioned Vitruvian Man, from which Vitruvian BioMedical Inc. takes its name, the small biotech is seeking to find a balance in personalized medicine between optimized diagnostics and therapeutics.

Launch of the nonprofit TransCelerate BioPharma Inc. by 10 of the industry's largest pharmas was greeted with interest and a bit of skepticism last week at the BioPharm America 2012 conference in Boston.

Galaxy Biotech LLC jumped back into the big fish pond, inking exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) in cancer to Roche AG.

BOSTON – A common refrain heard last week at BioPharm America 2012 in Boston was the need for biotechs to consider partnering opportunities at every step along the path to commercialization, from preclinical to post-approval. The optimum success strategy? In a word: Differentiate.

BOSTON – Pharmaceutical companies and, to some extent, big biotechs, could claim they're victims of their own success, according to Doug Cole, general partner of Flagship Ventures, speaking at the BioPharm America 2012 conference in Boston.