The Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) covers patent applications and grants from 50 patent issuing authorities. DWPI includes patents which refer to superbugs such as MRSA and VRSA and their diagnosis, analysis and treatment with e.g. colistin. Read More
Curis Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said the first patient was dosed in a phase I trial of CA-170, an oral, small molecule designed to inhibit immune checkpoints PD-L1 and V-domain immunoglobulin suppressor of T-cell activation, or VISTA. Read More
Aptose Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, said initial studies suggested a new prototype formulation for APTO-253 is more soluble and stable than the previous formulation, which caused filter clogging during a phase Ib trial. Read More
VBI Vaccines Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., raised gross proceeds of about $13.6 million in a now-closed private placement of equity led by Opko Health and Perceptive Advisors, with participation by Arch Venture Partners. The company sold about 3.28 million common shares priced at $4.16 per share. (See BioWorld Today, April 15, 2016.) Read More
The FDA last week banned the import of antibiotics and other drugs from three more companies in China and India. Drugs produced by Gooey Bio-Technology Co. Ltd., of Ningbo, China, Cheryl Laboratories Pvt Ltd., of Mumbai, and Phalanx Labs Pvt Ltd., of Parawada, India, were placed on the agency's Red List, which means products from the companies cannot be imported into the U.S. because the firms refused an FDA inspection. Read More
HONG KONG – With a green light from the CFDA, Taiwan antibiotics maker Taigen Biotechnology Co. Ltd. now has the first made-in-Taiwan novel drug marketed in mainland China. Read More
SHANGHAI – Hutchison China Meditech Ltd. (Chi-Med) is a biopharma unwilling to leave any stone unturned with its c-Met inhibitor, savolitinib. The Nasdaq-listed, China-based company has 11 clinical trials in 17 different indications for savolitinib. Read More
Efforts to improve the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections begin with the pipeline, and pipelines emerge from scientific prowess and dealmaking. Despite public rhetoric about confronting the superbug threat globally, experts contend that the cupboard of innovative treatments to address these pathogens is meager and the supply of scientists needed to restock the shelves is scarce. Read More
"In the justified worries about drug resistance, it tends to get somewhat lost that there is, as yet, no completely untreatable superbug," BioWorld's Senior Science Editor Anette Breindl clarified in part I (June 21, 2016) of our series. Staff Writer Nuala Moran examined the varied factors that led us to this point in time. We also provided some intellectual property (IP) insights and shared a Disease Briefing on multidrug-resistant bacterial infections from Cortellis Competitive Intelligence. Read More
After a long development saga that stretched across multiple companies, Rayaldee (calcifediol) was approved by the FDA to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in adults with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) who have serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels lower than 30 ng/mL – a first for the indication, which affects predialysis patients. Read More
HONG KONG – New research has identified a targetable new pathway in a proposed cell-of-origin population in breast cancer-susceptible BRCA1 gene mutation carriers, implicating RANKL blockade as a promising strategy for the prevention of breast cancer. Read More
"People know we're low on cash," Immune Pharmaceuticals Ltd. CEO Daniel Teper told BioWorld Today, but the company is "working on transactions that will allow us to refinance the company by the end of the summer." Read More
