LONDON – Topivert Ltd. has raised £17 million (US$27.9 million) in a second funding round, providing the means to take its two lead topical kinase inhibitor programs to proof of concept and a hoped-for trade sale exit for the investors. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – For Francesco De Rubertis, partner and co-founder of the life sciences practice at Index Ventures, each day at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference started earlier and finished later than a typical day in his London office. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – With a magnificent view of the early morning San Francisco skyline from the 32nd floor of the Westin St. Francis, Paul Cheng, CEO, chief scientific officer and founder of Hong Kong-based Bio-Cancer Treatment International Ltd., kicked off the emerging markets track of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference last week with a talk about how his little company is aiming big guns at hepatitis B-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – the third leading cause of cancer death in China. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – After clinical and regulatory setbacks in the latter part of 2013, the news might be getting better for patients with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD), as two of the most advanced programs reported news at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – 2013 was not the best PR year for biopharmaceutical companies in Asia. The vast potential for success by doing business in those markets is complicated after a frenzied growth mode and now executives are faced with challenges of managing those businesses since bribery and corruption scandals have rocked Glaxosmithkline plc. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Coming off a strong 2013 for the biopharma industry, the mood during the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference was enthusiastic – even branching into exuberant – and carried through despite the fatigue that inevitably set in after four days of rapid-fire meetings and presentations. Read More
Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., reported that the European Commission granted marketing authorization for Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) 400 mg tablets as a once-daily oral treatment of chronic hepatitis C in adults, in combination with ribavirin and pegylated interferon alpha. Read More
Oncomed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, reported Phase Ib data of demcizumab combined with gemcitabine and Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel, Celgene Corp.) in first-line Stage IV pancreatic cancer, showing it was generally well tolerated, with fatigue, hypertension, nausea and vomiting the most common drug-related toxicities. Read More
Janssen Research & Development LLC, of Raritan, N.J., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, said the FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted against the approval of the use of Xarelto (rivaroxaban), an oral anticoagulant, to reduce the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome in combination with standard antiplatelet therapy. Read More
Ipsen SA, of Paris, said the results of the ELECT Phase III trial testing Somatuline Autogel/Somatuline Depot (lanreotide) showed a statistically significant reduction vs. placebo in the number of days in which immediate-release octreotide was used as a rescue medication, representing a mean difference of -14.8 percent (p = 0.017). Read More
