LONDON – Heptares Therapeutics has landed a potential $410 million migraine deal with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., out-licensing its preclinical small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonist program. Read More
How antitrust watchdogs will receive Shire plc's plan to grab Dyax Corp. for $5.9 billion cash – with $646 million more if the FDA clears DX-2930, a late-stage prophylactic antibody treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE) – remains to be seen, but the FTC likely will want the combined firm to get rid of Kalbitor (ecallantide), approved for acute attacks of HAE, since Shire already has the bradykinin receptor antagonist Firazyr (icatibant) approved for that indication. Read More
It's not news that patient engagement is more than just a passing fad. But that engagement, and the expectations and attitudes that drive it, could be course changers all across the health care map. Read More
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have reported they were able to accelerate diabetic wound healing through a combination of inhibiting one matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and that the wound healing was further accelerated if they simultaneously administered another, MMP8. They published their results in the Nov. 23, 2015, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More
Axsome Therapeutics Inc., of New York, closed its IPO of about 5.6 million shares sold at $9 each, granting underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 850,000 more shares to cover any overallotments. Read More
Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, and Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said the European Commission approved Cotellic (cobimetinib) for use in combination with Roche's Zelboraf (vemurafenib) for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation. Read More
Aduro Biotech Inc., of Berkeley, Calif., reported Wednesday that all its clinical trials will continue unaltered and as planned, quelling fears of a possible FDA clinical hold that emerged after the company reported in an SEC filing that one patient receiving its listeria-based therapy, CRS-207, developed listeriosis, a potentially fatal infection for immuno-compromised patients caused by listeria. Read More
A team from the French University of Rouen has shown that commensal Escherichia coli-produced metabolites served as satiety signals to the host brain. Previous work had shown that gut bacteria influence host metabolism, and that transfer of gut bacteria can lead to obese phenotypes. Read More
