"We have cracked the code of atopic dermatitis [AD] disease pathology," Bola Akinlade, director of clinical sciences at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., told BioWorld Today, and with partner Sanofi SA the company is lined up to score what could be drug launch number three in as many years. Read More

In a six-sentence statement, Janssen Research & Development LLC, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), said it is halting the phase III development program for fulranumab in osteoarthritis (OA) pain. Read More

The public biotech markets weren't alone in taking a beating in the first quarter; venture capital investments in private U.S. biopharmas tracked by BioWorld Snapshots also saw a steep decline, with companies raising about $1.6 billion, compared to $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2015. Read More

LONDON – A new procedure allowing companies to have joint meetings with the EMA and Europe's national health technology assessment (HTA) bodies, to discuss how to design clinical studies to meet their differing evidence needs, has gone live following a 5.5-year pilot. Read More

TOKYO – News that Japanese pharma Daiichi Sankyo Group is pinning its growth strategy on oncology followed on the heels of the announcement that Daiichi and partner, U.S. firm Arqule Inc., are advancing their METIV-HCC study for tivantinib after achieving 60 percent of the target number of 500 patients with MET-high tumors in December, Read More

SHANGHAI – While there may be choppy waters all around – growth slowing in China and public markets no longer guaranteeing a safe haven for high valuation exits – China's health care industry is still thought to be a solid bet for investors, according to sentiment from the 7th China Healthcare Investment Conference. Read More

The problem of the non-practicing entity has plagued the U.S. patent scene for some time, but patent trolls are becoming a bigger problem in Europe as well of late, a problem that the impending formation of the European Union's Unified Patent Court (UPC) may help to resolve starting in 2017. Read More

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said it entered a $15 million loan agreement with Bridge Bank, a division of Western Alliance Bank and Solar Capital Ltd. It will be used for repayment of existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes. Sunesis said it believes proceeds from the agreement, plus cash on hand, extends its runway through the second quarter of 2017, past an anticipated regulatory decision in Europe for cancer drug vosaroxin. Read More

Respirerx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Glen Rock, N.J., said data are being presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego describing the use of ampakines to overcome opioid-induced respiratory depression. Data also showed that ampakines can significantly improve respiratory function after spinal cord injury and that ampakines can boost the efficacy of an emerging therapy using intermittent hypoxia that strengthens the motor control of patients after spinal cord injury. Read More

Tetra Discovery Partners LLC, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said it completed its initial phase I single ascending-dose study of BPN14770, its treatment aimed at improving memory and slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease, in 32 healthy volunteers. A second phase I trial is set to start in June to test multiple ascending doses of BPN14770, which is designed to work through the PKA-CREB pathway to enhance synaptic function of the brain neurons involved in memory and cognition. Read More

A team from the University of Virginia has reported that manipulating intestinal epithelial cells to take up the corpses of dying cells benefited mice with colitis by reducing intestinal inflammation. Read More