Arrowhead Research Corp.'s pick-up of the entire RNAi portfolio of Novartis AG earlier this month, including rights to a host of intellectual property (IP) and assets – among them, an existing license agreement with RNAi powerhouse Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. – all but closed the door to big pharma's decade-long experiment in RNAi-based drugs.
In January, investors in Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. showed their displeasure with early stage pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic findings on the use of emricasan in patients with impaired liver function by sending the company's shares (NASDAQ:CNAT) into a 40 percent freefall.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (LJP) moved ever so cautiously into its first phase III trial in more than a decade, advancing lead compound LJPC-501 (angiotensin II) into ATHOS (Angiotensin II for the Treatment of High-Output Shock) 3 to treat catecholamine-resistant hypotension (CRH).
Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co. are preparing to resume the phase III program for their partnered pain candidate, tanezumab, that has been in limbo since 2010, when the FDA raised concerns about a small number of osteoarthritis (OA) patients in the tanezumab program whose OA worsened, necessitating joint replacement.
An annual forecast of drugs expected to debut in the coming year and eventually reach blockbuster status suggests the biopharma industry is not only alive and well but also not solely reliant on compounds that target the narrower indications implicit in precision medicine efforts.
It's increasingly difficult to generate a big move in shares of a big biotech, but Alzheimer's disease (AD) did the trick again for Biogen Idec Inc., which continued to report upbeat findings for aducanumab (BIIB037) at the 12th International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders in Nice, France.
If anyone still doubted the power of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) technology to propel pipelines and stock prices, they needed look no further than the cross-country deal between Coronado Biosciences Inc. and the City of Hope to advance a portfolio of assets in newly created Mustang Therapeutics Inc.
Just three years out of the gate, privately held Scioderm Inc. is starting a phase III registration trial of lead compound Zorblisa (SD-101), its topical therapy to treat blisters and lesions resulting from the rare genetic connective tissue disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
Beyondspring Pharmaceuticals Inc. literally sprang to life in June 2013 with a phase II cancer compound already in hand. In the second quarter, the company's lead compound, plinabulin, is set to enter a pivotal phase III trial in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a notoriously obstinate indication.
