A policy climate change brought on by deficit talks and health care reform could make the U.S. market-based approach to drug pricing an endangered species. Read More
Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A. (AAA) closed a €40 million ($57.4 million) funding round that will enable the company to move its lead drug candidate Lutathera (lutate; 177Lutetium DOTA0-Tyr3-Octreotate) into pivotal trials in cancer later this year and to complete the acquisition of an as yet undisclosed firm that is developing a drug for ovarian cancer. Read More
Human Genome Sciences Inc. reported net sales of $7.8 million for lupus drug Benlysta (belimumab) in the second quarter, the drug's first full quarter on the market since gaining FDA approval in March. (See BioWorld Today, March 11, 2011.) Read More
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., of New York, inked a deal with PharmaNet LLC, of Princeton, N.J., to assist in developing the protocol and investigational new drug application file for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) trials involving the NurOwn technology. NurOwn is based on the use of adult human mesenchymal stem cells and has orphan drug designation in ALS. Read More
Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, reported Phase II results showing that its oral nucleoside cancer drug TAS-102 significantly improved overall survival compared to placebo (9 months vs. 6.6 months) and significantly reduced the risk of mortality (p = 0.0011) in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer who had received standard chemotherapy of at least two or more regimens containing a fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan and oxaliplatin. Read More
Researchers are increasingly coming to the conclusion that metastatic potential, rather than developing over time as a tumor accumulates mutations, is present from very early in development in some tumors. Read More
With the market for initial public offerings (IPO) refusing to heat up as many had hoped, biotech companies are once again turning to reverse mergers for entry to the public markets. Read More
