Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is paying $50 million for rights to use Cytomx Therapeutics Inc.'s Probody platform to discover and develop up to four new immunotherapies for cancer, including one targeting CTLA-4, the same receptor targeted by BMS' melanoma fighter, Yervoy (ipilimumab). Read More
Spark Therapeutics Inc., which burst on the gene therapy scene last October, lit a fire under a syndicate of investors that plowed $72.8 million into a series B just seven months after the company's launch. Read More
LONDON – Monday's deadline of 5 p.m. London time passed without Pfizer Inc. making a further move for Astrazeneca plc, meaning any fresh approach – from Pfizer at least – is off the table for six months. Read More
Top-line success for Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a phase IIa proof-of-concept trial called OPuS-1 (Oral ProphylaxiS-1) with oral kallikrein inhibitor BCX4161 against hereditary angioedema (HAE) brought competitor Dyax Corp. along for the ride, as backers of both companies guessed about what's in store for the busy therapeutic space. Read More
SHANGHAI – At the 5th Annual Biosimilars Asia conference held here, a varied mix of Asian biosimilar developers and the consultants that advise them were on hand to discuss the commercial opportunity for biosimilars, if one can only figure out the numerous and costly challenges first. Read More
In the coming weeks, Leem, the French pharmaceutical industry lobby group, will present compromise proposals to Social Affairs and Health Minister Marisol Touraine, in an effort to stave off what the group regards as draconian cuts to the country's drugs bill. Read More
HONG KONG – The CFDA's new rules covering food, drugs and medical devices give the accused the chance to petition for a hearing and outline the investigative path authorities must follow, including the use of evidence from outside of the country, before levying penalties that range from fines to shutting operations. Read More
Macrogenics Inc. enticed another big pharma partner to the table with a candidate from its Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting, or DART platform. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, took an option to develop and commercialize MGD010, a preclinical asset targeting autoimmune diseases, that uses DART to simultaneously engage the B-cell surface proteins CD32B and CD79B. Read More
The FDA has cleared its backlog of paper adverse event reports. By adding additional data entry staff and re-engineering its process, the agency has entered all the backlogged paper reports into the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database. Read More
Bioinvent International AB, of Lund, Sweden, said it sold back all its rights to drug development candidate ADC-1013 to former partner Alligator Bioscience AB, also of Lund, Sweden, for an undisclosed sum. Read More
Immune Design Corp., of Seattle, said the application of its GLAAS discovery platform is being used in the phase I trial of MEDI7510, an investigational agent for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in development by the Medimmune arm of London-based Astrazeneca plc. Read More
Abiogen Pharma SpA, of Pisa, Italy, said it granted Lee's Pharmaceutical Ltd., of Hong Kong, the license, distribution and marketing of Attila (neridronic acid) throughout China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for the two orphan/rare disease indications osteogenesis imperfecta and complex regional pain syndrome. Read More
