Once thought to be useless junk of the genome, long noncoding RNA is getting some serious attention as a source of druggable targets. And that interest helped RaNA Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., land a $20.7 million Series A financing round led by Atlas Venture, SR One and Monsanto Co. – with participation by Partners Innovation Fund – to get its lncRNA discovery platform off the ground.

Although expected, results from Medivation Inc.'s Phase III CONCERT trial of Dimebon (laterpirdine) in Alzheimer's disease were still a letdown.

The science of epigenetics will get a $95 million boost from a new collaboration between Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Roche Group. The two companies will launch a sweeping three-year collaboration to seek new treatments for cancer and other diseases based on epigenetics and chromatin biology.

Just one day after resubmission of its new drug application for lorcaserin, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. is selling nearly 10 million shares of common stock to raise $33 million, demonstrating that it is moving forward following the October 2010 complete response letter from the FDA.

If any doubt remained regarding the potential of nucleoside analogue drugs to treat hepatitis C virus, the $2.5 billion offer for Inhibitex Inc. by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. should have put it to rest. Closely following Gilead Sciences Inc.'s acquisition of a similar technology in its $11 billion purchase of Pharmasset Inc., the deal makes it clear that a nuc is now a must-have weapon in the HCV arsenal.

Pfizer Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Karo Bio AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, for the development of small-molecule modulators of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR-gamma), an enticing newer target with relevance for autoimmune disease.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cheshire, Conn., closed out 2011 with an impressive all-cash acquisition of Montreal-based Enobia Pharma Corp. for $610 million up front and $470 million in sales and regulatory milestones. Enobia's lead product, asfotase alfa (ENB-040), is a Phase II enzyme therapy for the ultra-orphan disease hypophosphatasia (HPP), which causes death and severe morbidity in its sufferers.

Tumor suppressor genes and proteins have been tantalizing targets for cancer drug development ever since they were first identified in the 1970s.

Pfizer Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Karo Bio AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, for the development of small-molecule modulators of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR-gamma), an enticing newer target with relevance for autoimmune disease.

Mirna Therapeutics Inc. will be using Smarticles liposomal delivery technology developed by Marina Biotech Inc. under a new license agreement worth $63 million up front and in milestones, plus royalties on product sales.