In findings that challenge current conventional wisdom in areas from developmental biology to target discovery, researchers from the University of Chicago have found that newer genes are as likely to be critical to a fruit fly's survival as older ones. Read More
Scott Johnson is a man in a hurry to discover a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). If he succeeds, the founder and president of the Myelin Repair Foundation, of Saratoga, Calif., will have conquered the disease he's lived with since 1976. And in the process, he also will have demonstrated the speed and effectiveness of his new model for producing treatments. Read More
Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said underwriters UBS Investment Bank, Cowen & Co. and Canaccord Genuity exercised their overallotment option related to the biotech's recent public stock offering, purchasing an additional 218,647 shares for $14.35 each in addition to the 4 million shares already sold. Read More
Myrexis Inc., of Salt Lake City, started a Phase IIb trial of Azixa (verubulin), a small molecule designed to act as a microtubule destabilizing agent, in front-line glioblastoma multiforme. The study will enroll up to 120 newly diagnosed patients and test Azixa plus standard of care vs. standard of care alone. Read More
Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Jerusalem, was awarded a NIS2.9 million (US$807,000) grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor of Israel. The funding will support development of Oramed's oral insulin and oral GLP-1 analogue for diabetes. Read More
With Gilead Sciences Inc. halting work on Letairis (ambrisentan) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) after a peek at Phase III data showed a lack of efficacy, InterMune Inc.'s pirfenidone remains the last late-stage player standing in IPF, a disease for which there are no approved drugs. Read More
Believing that it's a good time to access capital and make a move in the cell therapy space, Pathfinder LLC, of Cambridge, Mass., will become a public company via a reverse merger with biomaterials company SyntheMed Inc., of Iselin, N.J. Read More
