The likes of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis might have upstaged diabetes in the biotechnology limelight, but the disease is steadily on the march. More than 12 million Americans have been diagnosed, and the prevalence of the disease has jumped by 30 percent in the past decade. It's the No. 1 cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and amputations - not to mention heart disease.
Already used off-label for psoriasis - and approved for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis - Amgen Inc.'s Enbrel (etanercept) won FDA approval for treating those with moderate to severe forms of the skin condition who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. (BioWorld Today)
Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s CEO David Guyer typically is humble when he talks about the company's landmark potential $750 million deal in late 2002 with Pfizer Inc. for Macugen, the in-licensed aptamer for age-related macular degeneration.
