The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is perhaps more renowned for the dealmaking that occurs on the periphery of San Francisco's Westin St. Francis than for the news and views expressed within the hotel's hallowed halls. Read More
Mostly, the idea behind creating cell lines with diseases is to find ways to fix those diseases. But in the case of sickle cells – red blood cells with an abnormal hemoglobin gene – there may be a twist. Read More
Morphotek Inc.'s promising ovarian cancer drug farletuzumab yielded disappointing results in a Phase III trial in ovarian cancer. The study, which combined farletuzumab with carboplatin and taxane in platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer, did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS). Read More
Three months after its shares were clobbered on disappointing survival data in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ArQule Inc.'s stock sank again, after tivantinib, its MET inhibitor, missed primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase II trial in second-line colorectal cancer (CRC). Read More
• Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, said a compound identified and optimized in a research collaboration with Osaka, Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. was nominated to enter preclinical development, leading to the payment of an undisclosed milestone. Read More
• Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., priced a public offering of about 2.7 million shares of stock at Thursday's closing price of $26.64 per share, with net proceeds to total about $67.9 million. Read More
• Mesoblast Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said its Phase II trial for lumbar spinal fusion met its safety and efficacy endpoints, with results suggesting that NeoFuse, its product comprising allogeneic mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs), is as effective for interbody lumbar fusion as bone autograft without the need for a second surgical procedure and its attendant morbidity risks. Read More
• Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, said it received European approval for Betmiga (mirabegron) for treating overactive bladder symptoms in adults. Read More
• Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said data published in The Lancet showed that patients on mTOR inhibitor Afinitor (everolimus) tablets with noncancerous kidney tumors known as renal angiomyolipomas associated with tuberous sclerosis complex experienced a significant reduction in tumor size and the absence of tumor progression. Read More
Researchers from the Japanese National Institute of Radiological Sciences have questioned recent findings that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may lead to immune rejection. Read More
