Embryonic stem cells have been the subject of so many political fights that it's easy to forget they have also faced formidable scientific obstacles. Read More
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released the first of more than 4,700 abstracts late Wednesday in anticipation of its 2013 annual meeting, scheduled to attract more than 30,000 participants to Chicago from May 31 to June 4. Read More
Development of Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s triple-acting prostate cancer drug galeterone got a $35.5 million boost, with the Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech closing a Series E round with current investors Apple Tree Partners and Novartis Venture Funds, as well as undisclosed angel investors. Read More
The pulse of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could weaken without a healthy injection of money to fund future innovations and the scientists who form the core of biomedical research. Read More
Gradalis Inc.'s interim Phase II data with its personalized cancer vaccine for advanced ovarian cancer showed the approach more than doubled the benefit in patients given therapy known as FANG, a rough acronym for "furin and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF)." Read More
• Genfit SA, of Lille, France, said GFT505 reduced a new component of cardiovascular risk, remnant cholesterol, contained in lipid particles other than LDL and HDL. Read More
• Merck Serono SA, of Rockland, Mass., a division of Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, and Quintiles Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., signed a new, five-year clinical development agreement. Read More
• Sanofi SA, of Paris, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., enrolled their first patients in Phase III COMPARE and ASCERTAIN trials of sarilumab, for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not responded to methotrexate or tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor therapy. Read More
• OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., began a Phase Ib/II trial of its anti-Notch2/3 antibody (OMP-59R5), triggering an $8 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. Read More
