LONDON – Shire plc is rebounding from its failed deal with Abbvie Inc. to become an acquirer itself, announcing plans to takeover NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $5.2 billion cash. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – In another major deal on the opening day of the 33rd Annual J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference, Roche AG revealed that it is acquiring a majority ownership in Foundation Medicine Inc. (FMI) in a transaction valued at up to $1.05 billion. Read More
LONDON – Convergence Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is to be acquired by Biogen Idec Inc. for up $675 million, just over four years after spinning out of Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK) with a portfolio of ion channel pain drugs that had been parked by the London-based pharma. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Last year at this time the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies industry had begun its coming-out party riding a wave of promising clinical data readouts that ignited strong investor interest and catalyzed involvement and interest from big pharma companies. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Celgene Corp. kicked off the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Monday morning with a long-term financial outlook that combines the firm's tradition of conservative guidance, while placing emphasis on growing sales of top-selling drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) and a host of promising partnered programs, all with the projection of nearly tripling sales numbers by the year 2020. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – With the recent Agenus Inc. deal in immuno-oncology "adding a new dimension to our discovery engine" and phase III rheumatoid arthritis winner baricitinib likely to generate "a lot of news this year," Incyte Corp. will welcome a pair of brand new clinical candidates in oncology to its pipeline this year, CEO Herve Hoppenot told attendees of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Read More
LONDON – The EMA gave the nod to the first product containing stem cells, as it recorded the third annual increase in the number of drugs approved. Read More
DUBLIN – AC Immune SA could receive up to $509 million in up-front and milestone payments in a licensing deal with the Janssen Pharmaceuticals arm of Johnson & Johnson involving its first-in-class tau-targeting vaccine ACI-35, which is in clinical development for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, said it expects 3,700 people with cystic fibrosis to be eligible to receive its therapy for the genetic disease, Kalydeco (ivacaftor), by end of 2015, supporting continued growth of the drug's global sales, which it said are likely to rise to between $560 million and $580 million as the company moves to expand its geographic reach and address the needs of more patients. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – In a transaction nearly eclipsed by the bevy of pharma and big biotech deals on the opening day of the 33rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Oncore Biopharma Inc. agreed to merge with Canada's Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., combining their expertise in hepatitis B virus (HBV) therapies. Read More
TapImmune Inc., of Seattle, said it entered a definitive agreement with institutional investors for a registered direct placement of 7.32 million units at $0.20 apiece. Read More
strong>Adimab LLC, of Lebanon, N.H., and Glaxosmithkline plc, of London, expanded their collaboration. Adimab will build a custom library for GSK for use in generating bispecific antibody leads. Read More
Huya Bioscience International, of San Diego, said Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Ltd., of Shenzhen, China, has received marketing approval for its oral HDAC inhibitor, HBI-8000 (chidamide), for relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma, from the CFDA. Read More
23andme Inc. of South San Francisco, and Pfizer Inc., of New York, have expanded an existing research agreement to provide Pfizer with access to 23andme's research platform, including services and analysis of the consumer genetics company's genotyped population of more than 800,000 customers, 80 percent of which have granted their consent to participate in research. Read More
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, stopped an open-label, randomized phase III study evaluating Opdivo vs. docetaxel in previously treated patients with advanced, squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer because an assessment conducted by the independent data monitoring committee concluded that the study met its endpoint, demonstrating superior overall survival in patients receiving Opdivo compared to the control arm. Read More
