Shares in Algeta ASA surged by 30 percent Tuesday as partner Bayer AG offered NOK336 (US$55.03) per share for the Norwegian firm, which values the company at NOK16.8 billion, or about $2.7 billion ($2.5 billion net its current cash). Read More
BEIJING – Friedhelm Blobel, CEO and president of Sciclone, knows about running a specialty pharmaceutical company in China. His company, based in Foster City, Calif., and listed on Nasdaq, has a 17-year track record in China selling its $100 million-a-year drug Zadaxin. Read More
With the FDA backpedaling on a decision it made three years ago to severely limit the use of Glaxosmithkline plc’s (GSK) Avandia and other diabetes drugs containing rosiglitazone, the damage resulting from that decision is calling into question the need for massive cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) for diabetes drugs and the future regulatory role of meta-analysis. Read More
An acquisition of Jennerex Inc. by Sillajen Inc. may be needed redemption for Jennerex’s recently troubled cancer immunotherapy, Pexa-Vec. The product failed to reach its primary endpoint of overall survival in a Phase IIb trial in September, resulting in a stock plummet for Jennerex’s European partner, Transgene SA. Read More
Oncology partner Sanofi SA likely was not thrilled by the clinical part of the mixed bag of news offered by Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc., but a moderate-sized nanoliposomal deal with specialty pharma Actavis plc made Wall Street happy. Read More
LONDON – A study in mice has pinpointed a genetic basis for increased alcohol consumption, which – if a similar mutation also occurs in humans – may one day lead to new treatments for alcohol addiction. Read More
• Bioxodes SA, of Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium, completed a €2.6 million (US$3.5 million) first seed funding round with a consortium of angel investors and Belgian investment funds. Read More
• Evoke Pharma Inc., of San Diego, selected Synteracthcr Inc. to serve as its primary contract research organization for its upcoming Phase III trial with EVK-001, a metoclopramide nasal spray for the relief of symptoms associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis in women with diabetes mellitus. Read More
• Kineta Inc., of Seattle, said it enrolled the first subject in a Phase Ib trial of lead candidate ShK-186, an immune-sparing therapeutic in development for a variety of autoimmune indications. Read More
• Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, said its marketing authorization application for faldaprevir, a second-generation oral protease inhibitor, was fully validated and granted accelerated assessment by the European Medicines Agency. Read More
