After being drubbed in December 2011 following inconclusive data from a Phase IIb study, Endocyte Inc.'s cancer drug EC145 (vintafolide) made a 180-degree turn, attracting a potential $1 billion deal with Merck & Co. Inc. Read More
Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. fell 24 percent Monday after the biotech and partner Baxter International Inc. revealed the FDA needs more information to complete its review of subcutaneous immunoglobulin product HyQ. Read More
Almost 50 percent of drugs that are currently on the market target G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). But Stuart Maudsley, head of the receptor pharmacology unit at the National Institute of Aging's Laboratory of Neurosciences, thinks that medical research has only scratched the surface of their therapeutic possibilities. Read More
When is a sales rep not a sales rep? That's the question the Supreme Court faced Monday as it heard arguments in a case that could change the 70-year-old paradigm of pharma sales reps. Read More
• Galena Biopharma Inc., of Lake Oswego, Ore., said it closed its underwritten public offering of about 9.75 million shares priced at $1.50 apiece for gross proceeds of about $14.5 million. Read More
• Nascent Biologics Inc., of Somerset, N.J., inked a deal for Catalent Pharma Solutions, of San Diego, to engineer a cell line expressing Nascent's Pritumumab antibody and subsequently produce purified monoclonal antibodies to support Nascent's Phase I/II trials in brain cancers such as astrocytomas and glioblastomas. Read More
• Morphotek Inc., of Exton, Pa., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., began a Phase II trial of MORAb-004 for colorectal cancer. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will evaluate safety and efficacy of single-agent MORAb-004 with supportive care for progression-free survival in patients with chemo-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. Secondary endpoints include overall survival and identification of efficacy biomarkers. Read More
• Conformetrix Ltd., of Manchester, UK, and AstraZeneca plc, of London, signed a research collaboration agreement allowing AstraZeneca to apply Conformetrix's NMR-based technology across its preclinical therapeutic pipeline to enhance lead discovery and hit identification. Read More
