Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. is suspending development of PINTA 745 after the peptide-antibody combination missed its primary endpoint, defined as percent change from baseline in lean body mass as measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry at week 12, in a phase II proof-of-concept study. Read More
Akebia Therapeutics Inc.’s president and CEO, John Butler, told investors during a Monday conference call that it was the company’s goal to find a Japanese partner for phase III-ready vadadustat, an oral therapy for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease (CKD), by the end of 2015. Read More
DUBLIN – Seventure Partners has added Novartis AG as an investor in a new closing of its Health for Life Capital fund, taking the total to €160 million (US$175 million). It’s further evidence that big pharma is taking this emerging sector seriously. Read More
HONG KONG – The chill of a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign in China that has led to some very high-profile arrests spread with news that Guo Guangchang, the chairman of Fosun International Ltd., may have been snared in a corruption investigation. Shares of its subsidiary, Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (HKEX:2196, SS:600196), plunged more than 12 percent Monday on the Hong Kong stock exchange and about 4 percent in Shanghai. Read More
DUBLIN – Pharnext SAS is embarking on a pivotal phase III trial of its lead drug cocktail, PXT-3003, in patients with the inherited progressive neuromuscular disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A. Read More
LONDON – The question of to what extent those who meet the inclusion criteria in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) match the likely patient population is nowhere more marked than in respiratory diseases. Read More
SHANGHAI – Wuxi Pharmatech (Cayman) Inc., a new breed of contract R&D organization, has completed the privatization process, requesting its stocks to stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 10. Wuxi’s chairman and chief executive, Ge Li, along with a consortium of private-equity investors paid $3.3 billion in cash to complete the deal. Wuxi first listed in the U.S. in 2007. Read More
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec City, closed a previously announced underwritten public offering of 3 million common shares and warrants to acquire 2.1 million common shares with a combined purchase price of $5.55 for one common share together with a warrant to purchase 0.7 of a common share, generating net proceeds of approximately $15 million. Read More
Dimerix Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said the FDA granted orphan designation to propagermanium and irbesartan, the constituent parts of its drug candidate, DMX-200, for the treatment of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a leading cause of chronic kidney disease. Read More
Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, completed dosing in the first stage of its phase I trial for the once-weekly transdermal aripiprazole patch, AQS1301. This study is the first in a two-stage phase I proof-of-concept program designed to assess the rate of absorption and to evaluate the profile of drug delivery over a seven-day period with Aequus’ transdermal formulation in 12 healthy volunteers. Results are expected to be announced early in 2016. Read More
