Shares in ChronTech Pharma AB plunged as much as 40 percent during trading Tuesday on news that ChronVac-C, the company's therapeutic DNA vaccine for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, failed to attain efficacy in an interim analysis of data from a Phase II trial. Read More
Teams led by scientists from the Scripps Research Institute and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute reported last week that they have engineered and identified, respectively, parts of HIV that can strongly stimulate naïve B cells to produce the sorts of antibodies that can ultimately become broadly effective against HIV – a step toward the development of an HIV vaccine that has long eluded researchers. Read More
Being in the right space at the right time gave CytoDyn Inc. a shot in the pipeline that may have advanced its HIV/AIDS R&D program five years. Read More
A new collaboration between Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. will focus on harnessing the therapeutic power of peptide drugs through a platform technology that offers candidates pre-designed for cell permeability and oral bioavailability. Read More
Privately held Revance Therapeutics Inc. raised $33 million in a Series E financing and converted $71 million in convertible debt into Series E preferred stock, aiming to complete U.S. Phase III trials for lead compound RT001, a physician-applied topical botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA), in the lead indication of lateral canthal lines, better known as crow's feet. Read More
• Affymax Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $68.3 million, or $1.85 per share, a wider-than-expected loss. The firm also missed revenue projections, with fourth-quarter revenues of $14.79 million just short of the $14.81 million consensus estimate. Read More
• Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., returned sponsorship of Urocidin, a Phase III bladder cancer candidate, to Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., of Belleville, Ontario, according to an agreement made in December. Read More
• Axelar AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, part of the Karolinska Development AB portfolio, reported preliminary interim results from its Phase II study of AXL1717, indicating that the small-molecule IGF-1 receptor inhibitor is effective in treating patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Read More
• UCB SA, of Brussels, Belgium, said its Canadian subsidiary received Health Canada approval for Neupro (rotigotine), a non-ergolinic dopamine agonist in patch form. Read More
