Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered an unexpected role for Parkin, a protein that plays a role in many cases of early onset Alzheimer's: it plays a role in regulating fat uptake, partly through stabilizing a surface molecule that helps cells take up fat. Read More
All three of Affinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s original Series A investors have returned for a $15 million follow-on financing. SV Life Sciences, Genesis Capital Partners and Forward Ventures are joined by new investor Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund in a financing round that will support completion of a Phase II trial of Affinium's oral antibiotic AFN-1252, and Phase I trials of an I.V. formulation of the same drug. Read More
NovAliX SAS, of Strasbourg, France, signed a drug discovery collaboration with Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, in the field of osteoarthritis. Under the terms, NovAliX will handle the discovery of specific small-molecule lead candidates for a target chosen by Galapagos and then will identify hits using its Graffinity fragment-based screening technology. In exchange, NovAliX will receive technology access fees, research funding and potential milestones. Specific financial terms were not disclosed. Read More
Curacyte AG, of Munich, Germany, terminated its Phase III PHOENIX trial of PHP/Hemoximer for catecholamine-resistant distributive shock following a planned interim analysis in which an independent data monitoring board unanimously recommended stopping the trial. The analysis considered data from two-thirds of the study patients and showed a higher number of deaths in the treatment arm than in the placebo arm. Read More
Privately held Zymeworks Inc. emerged from stealth mode this week, with its first major commercialization deal matching up its bispecific antibody technology with drug development at Merck & Co. Inc. in the areas of oncology and autoimmune diseases. Read More
A Phase II trial miss is usually nothing to shout about, but Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. put an optimistic gloss on macitentan's failure to demonstrate efficacy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), emphasizing its favorable safety profile, which could augur well for an ongoing Phase III trial in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Read More
