Positive preliminary data from a phase II trial of Promedior Inc.'s experimental myelofibrosis therapy, PRM-151, showed the anti-fibrotic immunotherapy to be safe, well tolerated and effective in reducing symptoms of the disease.
As the biggest names in cancer care gather at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 50th annual meeting in Chicago, talk of the exorbitant cost of new cancer drugs is no doubt echoing in the halls of McCormick Place. Outrage is easy to summon. At nearly $10,000 a month the average cost for a branded oncology drug in the U.S. is double what it was a decade ago and a full fifth of annual median household income. Last year, 10 new oncology drugs joined the fray, helping drive global spending on cancer therapeutics to $91 billion. Newer targeted therapies accounted for nearly half the...
Biomedical competitors, fierce as ever, are finding complementary aid in mission-driven collaborations, according to a new survey of the largely unmapped consortia landscape. Consortia-pedia, a new project of the nonprofit Fastercures, is documenting more than a decade of progress in the fast-growing space.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is paying $50 million for rights to use Cytomx Therapeutics Inc.'s Probody platform to discover and develop up to four new immunotherapies for cancer, including one targeting CTLA-4, the same receptor targeted by BMS' melanoma fighter, Yervoy (ipilimumab).
Oxigene Inc. raised its cash position to nearly $41 million through a $16 million registered direct common stock offering, giving new CEO Dai Chaplin the fuel to accelerate development of the company's pipeline of anti-vascular drugs, including its lead candidate, Zybrestat (fosbretabulin tromethamine) for patients with relapsed ovarian cancer.
Third Rock Ventures and the Column Group are investing $25.1 million in a fresh bet on Nurix Inc., a San Francisco-based start-up planning to use small molecules to leverage control of ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) to attack cancer and other diseases. The series B round builds on a $6.2 million seed financing led by the same investors in 2012.
Cour Pharmaceutical Development Co. Inc., a small company developing nanotechnology-based immunotherapies for acute inflammation and autoimmune disease, has appointed Pfizer R&D veteran Catherine Mackey as chairman of its board.
Aadi LLC, a small new biotech company led by Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) co-inventor Neil Desai, is in-licensing a once-shelved nanoparticle therapy from Celgene Corp. to develop it for oncology and cardiovascular indications. Celgene acquired the drug, ABI-009, in its 2010 acquisition of Abraxis Bioscience Inc. and retains an option to reacquire it in the new deal.
Merck & Co. Inc.'s new billion-dollar collaboration with Bayer AG threw a spotlight on drugs capable of amping up concentrations of the messenger molecule cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) to impact cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. Now Bayer, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. and others are leveraging expertise built on the way to gaining FDA approval for drugs in the space to expand their use.
Novo Nordisk A/S reported Friday that a 3-mg dose of liraglutide combined with a low-calorie diet and increased exercise helped obese non-diabetics achieve an 8 percent weight loss at 56 weeks, almost three times the 2.6 percent benefit realized by patients taking a placebo.
