Cyrenaic Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a little company with big dreams. The privately held biotech, based in Princeton, N.J., is focused on the development of CYR-101, an antipsychotic in clinical development for the treatment of schizophrenia.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. took an inventive tack to raise $30 million this week by monetizing payments from licensee Shionogi & Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, for peramivir (Rapiacta), a neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza.

Health care conference abstracts don't usually drive stock prices, but investors in Pharmasset Inc. took notice this week when abstracts were posted for the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) conference, scheduled to begin on March 30 in Berlin.

Following the decision last year by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) to dial down its neuroscience research activities, Targacept Inc. has yanked its strategic alliance with GSK, effective May 29.

GTx Inc. plans to walk away from toremifene after the company "mutually agreed to terminate" its collaboration with Ipsen Group SA to develop and commercialize the drug, GTx CEO Mitchell Steiner told BioWorld Today.

The Sabin Vaccine Institute is on a mission not only to bring vaccines for neglected tropical diseases (NTD) to residents of some of the world's poorest countries, but also to help nurture world peace. Peter J. Hotez, president of the institute and research professor at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, characterizes the institute's mission as "vaccine diplomacy," noting that the U.S. has an unprecedented opportunity to improve relations with Islamic nations by helping to ease the burden of disease in those countries.

After a long and winding road, the FDA has at last given Forest Laboratories Inc. the green light to market Daliresp (roflumilast) in the U.S. to reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations in patients with severe COPD associated with chronic bronchitis and a history of such flare-ups, which may include breathlessness, chronic cough and excessive production of phlegm leading to medical intervention, including hospitalization.

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed 15 percent Wednesday following better-than-expected results from the company's Phase III STRIVE study of VX-770, its oral medicine candidate targeting the defective protein that causes the hereditary condition cystic fibrosis (CF).

As expected, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. submitted a biologics license application (BLA) to the FDA for its VEGF Trap-Eye (aflibercept ophthalmic solution) to treat the neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). Regeneron's submission includes a request for priority PDUFA review.

Privately held Diartis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a spin-off launched late last year from Versartis Inc., both of Mountain View, Calif., hit the ground running with a Series A financing from Index Ventures, biotech company Amunix Inc. and private investors.