Privately held Angiochem Inc. signed a global collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc potentially worth more than C$300 million (US$300.3 million) to discover, develop and commercialize treatments for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs). Read More
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – With delegates from biotech and pharma companies attending the BioPartnering North America conference keenly focused on dealmaking opportunities for 2012 and beyond, Deloitte Recap LLC provided perspective on the first day of the 10th annual meeting by breaking down that activity for the previous year. Read More
DUBLIN, Ireland – Shrugging off uncertainties stemming from a string of recent – and looming – patent expiries, Eli Lilly and Co. is investing €330 million (US$443 million) in a new biopharmaceutical production facility at its Dunderrow campus, which is located near Kinsale, in County Cork, Ireland. Read More
WASHINGTON – The randomized, controlled clinical trial that is today's gold standard for drug research needs to take a backseat to trials designed for real-world conditions with endpoints that are important to patients. Read More
• C3 Jian Inc., of Los Angeles, said it closed an equity financing of $30 million to advance its lead product, C16G2, a peptide drug targeting dental caries, into clinical trials. The company is planning to file an investigational new drug application in April. Read More
• Galena Biopharma Inc., of Lake Oswego, Ore., said its board declared a conditional spinoff stock dividend on Galena common stock of one share of common stock of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp., a subsidiary of Galena, for each outstanding share of Galena common stock. The move was required by Nasdaq. RXi and Galena split into two separate, publicly traded firms last year, with RXi focusing on RNAi therapeutics and Galena taking over the firm's targeted cancer therapies. Read More
• BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lincolnshire, Ill., said results from a 30-patient Phase Ib study demonstrated that its GVAX pancreas cancer vaccine increased the median survival of pancreatic cancer patients with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma by more than 60 percent, from 3.3 months when treated with Yervoy (ipilimumab, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) to 5.5 months on ipilimumab plus the GVAX pancreas vaccine. Read More
• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, reported Phase II data showing that TAK-875, a GPR40 agonist, met its primary endpoint of statistically significantly lowering HbA1c levels over a 12-week period vs. placebo in Type II diabetes patients. Read More
• Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said it extended its cash offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Illumina Inc., of San Diego, at a price of $44.50 per share, to 6 p.m. ET March 23. The tender offer previously was set to expire at midnight ET Feb. 24. All other terms of the proposed $5.7 billion bid for the tools firm remain the same. Read More
• Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc., of East Brunswick, N.J., reported fourth-quarter 2011 revenues of $3.7 million and a net loss of $30.9 million, or 44 cents per share, a wider loss than the 38 cents per share analysts had predicted. For the full year, Savient reported a net loss of $102 million, or $1.46 per share. Sales of gout drug Krystexxa (pegloticase) grew to $3 million for the fourth quarter. Read More
