Amicus Therapeutics Inc.'s bad preliminary news with Plicera from a small Phase II study in Gaucher disease "does advance the general proof of concept of chaperones" despite the failure, CEO John F. Crowley told investors during an aftermarket conference call Friday. (BioWorld Today)
Protalix Therapeutics Inc.'s finish of the pivotal Phase III trial with prGCD, a plant cell-expressed recombinant form of glucocerebrosidase for Gaucher's disease, put hot breath on the neck of Genzyme Corp., still grappling with problems brought about by a virus discovered in one of the reactors used to make its therapy.
Word this month that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and partner Sanofi-Aventis Group decided to quit their Phase III trial with aflibercept (VEGF Trap) for first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer put new focus on the grim, quick-spreading tumor type, much in the news as a result of actor Patrick Swayze's death last week.
