LONDON – ThromboGenics NV is getting €75 million (US$98.4 million) up front as part of a €375 million-plus-royalties deal with leading eye care specialist Alcon Inc. for the ex-U.S. rights to ocriplasmin, providing the cash ThromboGenics needs to go it alone in commercializing the vitreous macular adhesion (VMA) treatment in the U.S. Read More
WASHINGTON – Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. will have a lot on the line Tuesday when an FDA advisory committee takes a hard look at the data for its sarcoma drug Taltorivc. But for the FDA, it all comes down to one question – do the risks outweigh the benefits? Read More
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have identified a new set of mutations that make tumor cells vulnerable to Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, or PARP, inhibitors. The genes in question, for cohesins, join BRCA and RAD51D as possible biomarkers for tumors that are sensitive to PARP inhibitors. Read More
Shares of OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell 20.8 percent Friday after the Bothell, Wash.-based biotech priced its $50 million public offering at $12 per share. Read More
Tarsa Therapeutics Inc.'s $28 million financing will push Ostora, its once-daily oral calcitonin tablet, through a new drug application (NDA) filing and a European marketing authorization application, as well as fund other pre-commercialization activities. Read More
• Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Hayward, Calif., said it cut its headcount by about 45 percent and will reduce or eliminate vendor activities in the wake of the recent termination of the VISTA-16 Phase III trial for futility. The company reported last week that it would cease patient enrollment and dosing in VISTA-16, which was testing sPLA2 inhibitor varespladib in acute coronary syndrome. Read More
• SK Biopharmaceuticals, of Seoul, South Korea, said it dosed the first patient in a Phase II trial of YKP10811, a selective partial agonist of serotonin Type 4 receptors, in chronic constipation. Read More
• Galderma Laboratories LP, of Fort Worth, Texas, said it completed two Phase III trials of CD07805/47, a topical gel in development for adults with moderate to severe facial erythema of rosacea. Read More
Researchers from the Burnham Institute have discovered that patients with rare genetic disorder multiple hereditary exostoses, or MHE, appear to have abnormalities in their brains as well as their bones. The most obvious problem in MHE is that its sufferers have multiple outgrowths on their bones. Read More
