A merger agreement between Pharmathene Inc., of Annapolis, Md., and Theraclone Sciences Inc., of Seattle, will create a combined company boasting four clinical-stage antibodies in the areas of infectious disease.
While Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s $1.6 billion double acquisition of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Trius Therapeutics Inc. has gone down on the books as one of the biggest biotech events of the year, some analysts are crying foul at Optimer's surprisingly low selling price of $10.75 per share, or 20 percent below the stock's closing price of $13.29 on July 30, but it is barely more than 50 percent of the $20 per share offer Cubist made earlier this year.
With the acquisition of Trius Therapeutics Inc. and Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. after the market closed Tuesday for a total of more than $1.6 billion, Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. has made a play to position itself as an antibiotic powerhouse in the biotech field.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Washington, was granted priority review status for tasimelteon, its candidate for non-24-hour disorder in people who are totally blind. Non-24 affects a majority of blind people, or 65,000 to 95,000 people in the U.S.
In a patent infringement appeal filed by Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc./Sandoz Inc. and Mylan Laboratories Inc./Natco Pharmaceuticals, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared some patents for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s multiple sclerosis (MS) drug, Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection), to be invalid.
The FDA imposed a partial clinical hold on an ongoing Phase II study of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s hepatitis C virus candidate, VX-135, due to observations of elevated liver enzymes in patients receiving a 400-mg dose of the drug in the trial.
Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass., blasted consensus sales estimates for multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) out of the water, turning in $192 million in its second quarter earnings, compared to the $75 million expected by the street. The company's total revenues were $1.7 billion for the second quarter, up 21 percent over the second quarter of 2012.
Tesaro Inc., of Waltham, Mass., advanced its poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, niraparib, for ovarian cancer into a Phase III. The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, designated NOVA, began enrollment of patients with high-grade serous, platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer.
Audentes Inc., of San Francisco, closed a Series A financing round worth $30 million. OrbiMed Advisors led the round with participation by 5AM Ventures and Versant Ventures.
