Shares in Prosensa Holding NV plunged 70.3 percent Friday on news that its exon-skipping antisense drug drisapersen failed to meet the primary endpoint of a Phase III trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Read More
The biotech world was stunned Friday morning when reports trickled out of San Diego that the former CEO of a failed biotech allegedly shot and wounded a former colleague and a brother-in-law in separate incidents before he was taken into custody by the San Diego Police Department. Read More
Bind Therapeutics Inc. followed two other biotechs through the initial public offering (IPO) window last week, pricing 4.7 million shares at $15 apiece, the midpoint of its proposed range, though it didn’t fare quite as well as its cohorts in its first Wall Street appearance. Read More
SHANGHAI – Two Chinese biopharmaceutical firms have been added to an ongoing corruption probe in China that has already expanded to cover several multinationals. They include Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group, which is majority owned by Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd., and privately held Gan & Lee Biotechnology Co. Ltd. Read More
LONDON – Two years after halting development of bovine alkaline phosphatase, AM-Pharma is back in the clinic with its new, proprietary, recombinant human version of the anti-inflammatory enzyme. Read More
What’s in a name? Marketability. That’s part of the sales pitch the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) made in a citizen petition in which it asked the FDA to give biosimilars the same international nonproprietary name (INN) as their reference biologic. Read More
In work that sheds light on both the toxicity of amyloid beta and the role that immune system molecules play in the brain, researchers have shown that amyloid beta oligomers can weaken synapses by binding to the PirB receptor. In animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, such weakening went along with cognitive problems. Read More
• Cel-Sci Corp., of Vienna, Va., said it is effecting a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock, effective for trading purposes on Sept. 25. The number of outstanding shares will be reduced from 310 million to about 31 million. Read More
• Orexo AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, said that Abstral (fentanyl) sublingual tablets were approved in Japan for cancer pain, and will be sold by Tokyo-based Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. Read More
• Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, and H. Lundbeck A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended marketing authorization for Abilify Maintena (aripiprazole), an intramuscular depot formulation for maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults stabilized with oral aripiprazole. Read More
• Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Raritan, N.J., part of Johnson & Johnson, said a pooled analysis of the Phase III EINSTEIN program showed Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is as effective as standard of care in reducing the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in people with symptomatic DVT or PE while reducing the incidence of major bleeding by 46 percent. Read More
Researchers from Rockefeller University have been able to control established HIV infection in mice with humanized immune systems by treating the animals with a broadly neutralizing antibody. Read More
