Baxter International Inc. unveiled favorable phase III data from the pivotal trial with BAX 855, an extended half-life recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) antagonist for hemophilia A. The follow-on for Baxter's gold standard Advate (octocog alfa) is partnered with Nektar Therapeutics Inc., and analysts say the latest results put the companies on solid footing in the space. Read More
LONDON – The UK government and the research charity the Wellcome Trust have launched a £6.5 million (US$10.8 million) emergency initiative to expedite clinical trials of Ebola drugs and vaccines, opening a call for proposals to be received by Sept. 8. Read More
Polio was declared an eradicable disease in 1988, and although the global polio eradication initiative missed its original goal of wiping the disease off the face of the planet by 2000, it certainly seems possible to get there. Read More
A year after its official launch, Curtana Pharmaceuticals Inc. stepped onstage holding a $7.6 million product development grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to fund its lead cancer therapy program, which is targeting the OLIG2 transcription factor (TF) – initially in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Read More
HONG KONG – A Chinese vaccine maker may have to destroy $65 million worth of vaccines because the CFDA refused to give it a release approval for its human rabies vaccine, but the company accused the CFDA of not following its own rules. Read More
LONDON – The last five years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of discovery collaborations established by pharma companies with academic researchers and biotechs. Read More
Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Roseland, N.J., reached agreement with MHR Fund Management LLC and certain of its affiliated funds to finance the upcoming launch of the company's first commercial prescription product, oral Eligen B12 for B12-deficient people in the U.S. through a new loan facility, and to amend the terms of the company's existing obligations under various promissory notes previously issued to MHR to extend their maturity dates. Read More
Angiocrine Bioscience Inc., of New York, licensed the rights to a technology developed by researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College, led by Shahin Rafii, a company founder, director of the Institute and professor of medicine, genetic medicine and reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell. Read More
Nusirt Biopharma Inc., of Nashville, Tenn., said it is starting a phase IIa trial designed to test whether the combination of its technology and three different low doses of metformin can effectively control glucose levels when compared with full doses of metformin alone. Read More
Illumina Inc., of San Diego, said it formed collaborative partnerships with big pharma firms to develop a universal next-generation sequencing-based oncology test system. Read More
Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, disclosed phase III data showing ixekizumab was statistically superior to etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen Inc.) and placebo on all skin clearance measures in pivotal phase III studies comparing the drugs in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Read More
