Merck & Co. Inc.'s tie of the licensing knot with AiCuris GmbH & Co. brought €110 million (US$142.2 million) up front and could mean another €332.5 million in milestone payments for AiCuris, with a cytomegalovirus (CMV) candidate impressive in Phase II trials. Read More
Cholesterol-lowering drug candidates are in the spotlight this week with the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) meeting Wednesday and Thursday to pass judgment on two of those drugs – lomitapide from Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Kynamro (mipomersen sodium) from Genzyme, a unit of Sanofi SA, a first-in-class second-generation antisense apolipoprotein B synthesis inhibitor, developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. Read More
NEW ORLEANS – During her professional life, Barbara Sahakian told the audience on Monday at the 2012 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the approach to mental health problems has undergone a "shift from attempts to treat chronic relapsing mental health problems after they occur to an attempt to prevent them . . . or at least detect early and treat effectively." Read More
Genmedica Therapeutics SL raised €12 million (US$15.5 million) in a Series B round to move its first-in-class drug candidate, GMC-252, into a Phase I trial in Type II diabetes. Read More
• The SEC has begun administrative proceedings against EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc. and GlycoGenesys Inc. The agency cited Lexington, Mass.-based EPIX for being delinquent in its periodic filings since March 31, 2009. Read More
• Nektar Therapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, said preclinical data were reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans for NKTR-171, a sodium channel blocker to treat neuropathic pain. Read More
• NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bedminster, N.J., reported findings from the Phase III REPLACE study of Natpara (recombinant human parathyroid hormone), showing that Natpara initiated bone remodeling as demonstrated by significant increases in bone turnover markers. Read More
• H. Lundbeck A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, reported post hoc analyses at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology meeting in Vienna, Austria, showing that asenapine achieved significant control of mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder compared to placebo. Asenapine is a tetracyclic antipsychotic therapy. Read More
• Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Xianyang, China, said it signed a one-year agreement valued at about $3 million to manufacture and supply Xijing Hospital with five additional drugs. Read More
