Researchers from Yale University and the Russian Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry have developed an ultra high-throughput (uHT) microfluidic method that allowed them to profile the activity of complex microbiomes, and used it to isolate an antibiotic that was active against Staphylococcus aureus from the saliva of the Siberian bear. Read More
Novus Therapeutics Inc., of Irvine, Calif., said it elected to postpone its public offering due to market conditions, including valuation sensitivity at the current share price. As of June 30, the company, which develops products for ear, nose and throat disorders, had about $19.2 million in cash and equivalents. Read More
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Rockville, Md., said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the New Jersey District Court's decision that Twi Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Taipei City, Taiwan, greater China, infringed three valid Oxtellar XR Orange Book patents. Read More
HONG KONG – Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s blockbuster drug, Soliris (eculizumab), was granted a rapid approval by China's drug regulator, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA, formerly CFDA), for treating paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Read More
HONG KONG – Some outward-looking Indian drugmakers may be benefiting from the cheapest rupee ever, but others, which hedged their currency bets, could take a hit. Read More
DUBLIN – Zealand Pharma A/S is walking away from its longstanding alliance with Sanofi SA in type 2 diabetes by selling off future income streams from lixisenatide, the glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist it discovered, to Royalty Pharma in a $205 million cash deal. Royalty, of New York, will receive sales royalties and potentially $85 million in future milestones from Paris-based Sanofi, although Copenhagen, Denmark-based Zealand will remain eligible for a final payment of up to $15 million, which it expects to receive in 2020. The trigger for that payment has not been disclosed. Read More
BOSTON – During a panel talk at Biopharm America on how collaborations between pharmaceutical firms and venture capital (VC) are changing the industry, New York-based Pfizer Inc.'s Anthony Berry said that "oftentimes we might look to join [as a limited partner (LP)] in a fund that might have a specific niche or opportunity" representing "a complement to what we're doing, not necessarily in direct competition with something we might be doing on our own." Such moves "certainly help us get a firsthand look at those companies from a different perspective than just being shopped around from the outside." Read More
HONG KONG – China-based Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. filed for an IPO in Hong Kong late last week, making it the 11th biopharma company to seek a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) since May and following Ascentage Pharma Group International's IPO a week earlier. Read More
