Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. acquired exclusive, worldwide rights to manufacture, develop and commercialize festinavir, a once-a-day, orally available nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) for HIV, from Oncolys BioPharma Inc., of Tokyo, a privately held company. Read More
Six months after adding a kinase program to its pipeline by acquiring CGI Pharmaceuticals Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc. picked up its first monoclonal antibody product in another early stage deal, buying out privately held Arresto Biosciences Inc. for $225 million in cash plus future milestones tied to sales. Read More
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec City, reached agreement with the FDA on a special protocol assessment for its ongoing Phase III trial of Solorel (AEZS-130, macimorelin) as a diagnostic for adult growth hormone deficiency. The original comparator diagnostic in the Phase III trial was withdrawn from the market, necessitating modifications to the trial design. Aeterna Zentaris expects to complete the trial and file for approval next year. Read More
OctoPlus NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, completed an equity raising of €4 million (US$5.2 million) through a private placement with new and existing investors, including participation by CEO-elect Jan Egberts. Read More
PDL BioPharma Inc., of Incline Village, Nev., said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office terminated an interference proceeding initiated by UCB Pharma SA, of Brussels, Belgium, involving Crohn's disease drug Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), a tumor necrosis factor blocker. Read More
Dazzled by science, Sanofi-Aventis SA, of Paris, plunked down $40 million in up-front cash and committed to as much as $770 million in milestones for collaborative access to Avila Therapeutics Inc.'s covalent drug discovery platform. Read More
LPath Inc. saw its stock jump 38.7 percent Monday after unveiling a potentially lucrative option deal with Pfizer Inc. covering lead antibodies iSONEP for ophthalmology and ASONEP for cancer. Read More
