Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. picked up the brodalumab torch dropped in May by Amgen Inc., inking an exclusive license with Astrazeneca plc to develop and commercialize the interleukin (IL)-17 inhibitor in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
In his 35 years at Pfizer Inc., including tenure as the New York-based pharma's director of R&D operations, Frank Sciavolino was immersed in the science side of the business and didn't necessarily see himself in the role of a CEO. Despite his role as the co-founder and head of Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sciavolino opted for the title of chief scientific officer.
Can government researchers, working in collaboration with industry and academia, build a better mousetrap for preclinical testing of therapeutic compounds that will be more predictive of their response in humans, without harming the mice? That question is at the heart of an initiative by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Can government researchers, working in collaboration with industry and academia, build a better mousetrap for preclinical testing of therapeutic compounds that will be more predictive of their response in humans, without harming the mice? That question is at the heart of an initiative by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Can government researchers, working in collaboration with industry and academia, build a better mousetrap for preclinical testing of therapeutic compounds that will be more predictive of their response in humans, without harming the mice? That question is at the heart of an initiative by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Onconova Therapeutics Inc. cheered investors by disclosing the submission of an investigational new drug (IND) application to the FDA to test the intravenous (I.V.) formulation of rigosertib in a pivotal phase III study in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR-MDS) after the failure of a hypomethylating agent (HMA).
Propelled by a $40 million series A, Rhythm Metabolic Inc. will seek to pick up the tempo for RM-493 (setmelanotide), a peptide melanocortin-4 (MC4) agonist designed to treat obesity caused by genetic deficiencies in the MC4 pathway.
Venetoclax, a small molecule designed to selectively bind and inhibit the B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) protein, was found worthy in a pivotal phase II study in previously treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who harbor the 17p deletion, and partners Genentech Inc. and Abbvie Inc. said they'll move directly to filings with the FDA and EMA, expected by year-end.
LSK Biopharma inked an exclusive license agreement with the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) to develop and commercialize HCI-1401, an orally bioavailable, small-molecule, irreversible inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). The new asset doubles the cancer pipeline for the Salt Lake City-based biotech, which earlier this year completed a phase I/II trial of its lead compound, apatinib mesylate (YN968D1), in solid tumors.
