News of Friday's FDA approval of Merck & Co. Inc.'s Victrelis as the first new hepatitis C drug in more than a decade is being overshadowed by the impending approval of the next in line, Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc.'s Incivek. Read More
A diabetes drug agreement inked earlier this year between Eli Lilly and Co. and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has become a source of dispute in Lilly's so-far-lucrative nine-year partnership with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist Byetta (exenatide). Read More
Yet again, SIGA Technologies Inc. was awarded a potential $2.8 billion government contract for smallpox drug ST-246. And yet again, rival Chimerix Inc. is challenging the award. Read More
NeuroHealing Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newton, Mass., entered a strategic master services and investment deal with Cato BioVentures, which includes a collaboration with Cato Research Ltd., its contract research organization, to assist in the clinical development of NeuroHealing's lead drug NH001. Read More
Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., said that its Phase III trial of Exparel for pain control post-hemorrhoidectomy met its primary endpoint of reducing pain and opioid use in the first 72 hours. Results were presented in a poster at the 2011 American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. Read More
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA, a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. India, based in Mumbai, licensed its monoclonal antibody GBR 500 to Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA for an up-front payment of $50 million, plus potential future milestone payments and double-digit royalties, for a total deal value up to $613 million. Glenmark said the deal is the largest of its kind from an emerging market, and is the first example of a novel biologic entity being licensed out of an emerging market. Read More
CytRx Corp. continued its strategy of cashing in on noncore assets by selling worldwide rights to its molecular chaperone portfolio to privately held Orphazyme ApS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, for a potential $120 million in up-front and milestone payments plus possible royalties. Read More
