DUBLIN – As the new year gets up and running, Europe's biotechnology sector is looking to pick up where it left off in 2014, with two firms already filing for initial public offerings (IPOs). Read More
DUBLIN – Roche Holding AG continued its new year shopping spree, putting down an initial €120 million (US$138 million) to acquire Trophos SA, with up to €350 million more to come in milestone payments. Read More
NEW DELHI – In twin developments, an Indian patent office rejected U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc.'s patent application for its blockbuster hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), leaving the door open for low-cost generic versions of a drug that is currently out of reach of most Indian patients. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – Richard Pops was hardly a new face when he took the podium last week at the 33rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Minus a two-year absence that's not even mentioned in his company bio, Pops has been at the helm of Alkermes plc since 1991, when – fresh from an assignment managing biotech R&D partnering at Painewebber Development Corp. – he was quickly hailed as something of a biotech wunderkind. Read More
LONDON – It has long been known that cooling the brain is neuroprotective. Now scientists have uncovered a molecular mechanism behind that effect, opening up a new area for target discovery in neurodegenerative diseases. Read More
HONG KONG – A Korean clinical-stage biotech company that focuses on monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) has inked a second deal in two months with its Chinese partner. Read More
Depomed Inc. said it expects its annual revenue to more than double in 2015 with the addition of U.S. rights to Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Nucynta pain drug franchise. Read More
Marilyn Tavenner will step down from her post as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in February, according to a statement by Tavenner e-mailed to Medical Device Daily. Tavenner took the post of acting administrator at the agency in 2011 after the departure of Donald Berwick, and was named administrator two years later. Read More
Abbvie Inc., of North Chicago, said the FDA approved its Duopa (carbidopa and levodopa) enteral suspension for the treatment of motor fluctuations for people with advanced Parkinson's disease. Read More
Ascendis Pharma A/S, of Hellerup, Denmark, said it plans to sell 5 million shares in an initial public offering priced at $16 to $18, raising $85 million at the midpoint. Read More
Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc., of Morristown, N.J. said the FDA accepted its supplemental new drug application for Treximet (sumatriptan/naproxen sodium). Read More
Oncomed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., presented final safety, efficacy and biomarker data from its phase Ib ALPINE trial testing tarextumab (anti-Notch2/3, OMP-59R5) in 40 patients with front-line metastatic pancreatic cancer, showing that the drug was generally well tolerated when administered with gemcitabine and Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel, Celgene Corp.), with manageable, on-target drug-related toxicities. Read More
A team from Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital has identified a target that can prevent the lengthening of telomeres via a nontraditional pathway. Read More
