Shares in Galapagos NV were down 9 percent Friday on news that Glaxosmithkline plc terminated development of its selective Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor GSK2586184 in several chronic inflammatory conditions after a statin-associated drug-drug interaction became apparent in a phase I study. Read More
U.S. sales of Xtandi (enzalutamide) jumped 74 percent in the second quarter over the same period a year earlier, to $143.7 million, Medivation Inc. reported after Thursday's market close, and the company's second quarter revenue from its collaboration with partner Astellas Pharma Inc. soared 111 percent over the same period in 2013, to $148.1 million. Read More
With a multi-cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) small-molecule inhibitor working its way toward phase III trials next year in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Tolero Pharmaceuticals Inc. raised $14.2 million in series B money that will also help advance the Salt Lake City-based firm's significant preclinical pipeline. Read More
HONG KONG – Shenyang, China-based 3SBio Inc. has entered an exclusive licensing agreement with Korean biotech Dinona Inc. for 3SBio to develop, manufacture and market leukotuximab in Greater China to offer better treatment to Chinese leukemia patients and reinforce its blood-related disorders pipeline. Read More
The debate continues about how good mouse models of inflammation are, with a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) taking issue with a 2013 report that there is next to no correlation between mouse and human changes in gene expression in several inflammatory disorders. Read More
SHANGHAI – Yabao Pharmaceutical Co. Inc. has agreed to co-develop with Le Sun Pharmaceutical Ltd. their leading PLK/PI3K dual inhibitor LS-008. On its hunt to find candidates with global potential, Chinese pharma Yabao will team up with the local biotech to accelerate development for the preclinical oncology candidate. Read More
LONDON – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday is convening a meeting of medical and scientific experts and ethicists to consider the use of non-approved drugs as emergency treatments for Ebola, after declaring the outbreak of the viral infection in West Africa an international emergency. Read More
Biospecifics Technologies Corp., of Lynbrook, N.Y., said it has injected the first patient in its placebo-controlled phase II trial of Xiaflex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum or CCH) to treat lipoma. Read More
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Henderson, Nev., said product sales were $46.9 million in the second quarter of 2014, compared to $32.2 million in the same period last year. Read More
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, of Dublin, said Jazz Investments I Ltd., its wholly owned subsidiary, priced its previously announced offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of exchangeable senior notes due 2021. Read More
Under certain circumstances, apparently, stress can be good for inflammatory disorders. The current dogma is that stress exacerbates inflammation, but researchers from the University of California at San Francisco have shown that psychological stress improved three separate inflammatory skin conditions in mice – contact dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis and eczema. Read More
