A promising candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis forms the basis of an acquisition deal between Biogen Idec Inc. and Stromedix Inc., of Cambridge, Mass. Biogen will pay $75 million up front, and up to $487.5 million in milestones for the company, gaining Stromedix's humanized monoclonal antibody, STX-100. Read More
Shares in Karo Bio AB plunged more than 66 percent Tuesday on news that the company was terminating a Phase III pivotal trial of its lead drug eprotirome, after a toxicology study in dogs indicated that long-term exposure could result in cartilage damage. Read More
WASHINGTON – Dealing with pain has been a routine part of life for millions of Americans. Now, it's being bumped up to a national priority with a focus on treating it as a complex disease in itself. Read More
NEW YORK – Appropriately enough on Valentine's Day, there was news of a blossoming hook-up coming out of the BIO CEO & Investor Conference. The marriage of biopharma drugs and medical technology to develop the companion diagnostics market could be primed to deliver smart therapeutics and produce a family of hybrid products that have the capacity to prematurely discover disease, abort its onset or nurse its symptoms. Read More
With regulatory filings for its prostate cancer therapy, Alpharadin (radium-223 chloride), expected in mid-2012, Algeta ASA is seeking up to NOK260 million (US$45.4 million) in a private placement to enable it to establish a commercial base in the U.S. in advance of a product launch and to continue research and development of its second line of alpha emitters, based on thorium-227. Read More
• Gene Signal International SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, published data in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science demonstrating the activity of aganirsen (GS-101, eye drops) in two models of retinal neovascular disease, wet age-related macular degeneration and ischemic retinopathy. Aganirsen is an antisense oligonucleotide that is expected to complete a Phase III trial in progressive neovascularization in the cornea this year. The data demonstrated the ability of aganirsen to reach and exert activity on the retina. Read More
• Dynavax Technologies Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., published data from a pivotal Phase III trial of Heplisav (HBV-10) in Vaccine. The data showed that a short, two-dose regimen of Heplisav over one month was well tolerated and superior to a three-dose regimen of hepatitis B vaccine over six months. Read More
• Seattle Genetics Inc., of Bothell, Wash., reported $33.2 million in fourth-quarter net product sales for lymphoma drug Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), beating analyst estimates of $25.7 million. Sales for the year were $43.2 million. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $27.2 million, or 24 cents per share, while net loss for the year was $152 million, or $1.34 per share. Read More
• The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) said it plans to launch a Phase II trial of TDI 132 (fingolimod/Gilenya) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Gilenya, a first-in-class sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator marketed by Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, was approved by the FDA in 2010 to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations and delay the accumulation of physical disability in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Read More
