Affiris AG claims to have achieved the first evidence of disease modification in Alzheimer's, although the result will, for now at least, lead to widespread head-scratching rather than celebration. Read More

Trevi Therapeutics Inc. has landed a tranched $25 million series B financing to support two pivotal trials of Nalbuphine extended release (ER), its oral opioid in development for the treatment of two forms of severe itching. TPG Biotech, which has funded the company since its founding, was the sole investor. Read More

HONG KONG – By 2017, the global pharmaceutical market will be worth $1.2 trillion and $250 billion will come from Asia. Those large sums of money should create multiple opportunities for investors that understand the nuances of the region, said industry insiders gathered here. Read More

Complexa Inc. landed a $13 million series B and new investor Jafco Life Science Investment, a unit of Tokyo-based private equity firm Jafco Co. Ltd., to advance development of two formulations of its lead compound CXA-10. The Pittsburgh-based company has an intravenous formulation of CXA-10 in a phase I study to treat contrast imaging dye-induced nephropathy (CIN), a form of acute kidney injury (AKI), as the compound's proof-of-concept indication. Read More

The FDA finalized its rule listing the pathogens that qualify as targets for drugs being developed under the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) provision of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act. Read More

LONDON – UK start-up company Reviral Ltd. has attracted one of the global stars of nucleoside chemistry and antiviral drugs to its board, as it prepares the ground for a series A later this year to raise £4 million to £5 million (US$6.8 million to US$8.5 million). Read More

Kinemed Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., said it renewed a nonexclusive research collaboration with Pfizer Inc., of New York, to advance approaches in metabolic disease, in particular type 2 diabetes. Read More

Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, said the Quebec government approved the inclusion of Victoza (liraglutide), the first once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue, to the Lists of Medications. Quebec becomes the first province to provide public access to the drug. Read More

Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Ewing, N.J., said it achieved 75 percent enrollment in its ongoing phase III trial comparing CPX-351 (cytarabine;daunorubicin) liposome injection vs. the conventional cytarabine and daunorubicin treatment regimen as first-line therapy in older patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia. Read More

If you were overwhelmed trying to keep up with our breaking news bulletins and massive daily editions during this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, never fear. We've collected them all in a special ASCO 2014 report. (For the full report, see today's PDF edition of BioWorld Today.) We hope this is a valuable resource as you all push forward in attempts to conquer the insidious unregulated cell growth which makes up the collection of diseases, cancer. Read More

CHICAGO – Already undergoing priority review by the FDA in ovarian cancer (OC), Astrazeneca plc's oral poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib wowed the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) with results from a phase II study that paired the compound with the same company's anti-angiogenesis candidate cediranib. Read More

CHICAGO – As the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting entered day two, coffee-sipping attendees perked to a first-in-the-morning discussion of the phase III data with Pharmacyclics Inc.'s ibrutinib (branded Imbruvica) in relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the first time an oral drug has yielded survival improvement over standard therapy. Read More

CHICAGO – The most frequent argument about whether targeted therapies are worth it is about money – in the crudest terms whether the slim survival benefit of such drugs justifies their fat price tag. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2014 has declared value to be one theme of this year's annual meeting. Read More

CHICAGO – Data from four phase III trials were slated to roll out during the afternoon plenary session of the 50th annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), providing new insights into breast, prostate and colorectal cancers and each funded at least in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read More

CHICAGO – Long-awaited results from the massive phase III breast cancer study called ALTTO (Adjuvant Lapatinib and/or Trastuzumab Treatment Optimization) show the experiment failed, an outcome that eliminates a potential therapeutic shortcut and gives clinicians plenty to talk about as they plan trials. Read More

CHICAGO – Like the late-stage adjuvant breast cancer study that failed but brought big benefits, a phase III study comparing the four commonest, first-line regimens in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) without KRAS mutations may have seemed a letdown at first. Read More

CHICAGO – Side effects of fatigue and excitability set in among attendees during the fourth day of sessions, as the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) continued and immuno-oncology (IO) stole the show as predicted. Melanoma drew special attention, especially ipilimumab (Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) and Merck & Co. Inc. with its PD-1 inhibitor, but there was plenty more. Read More