Kalobios Pharmaceuticals Inc. asked for and got back the rights to KB001-A from Sanofi Pasteur, under terms that at least one analyst deemed "attractive" – especially given that the pharma partner was hardly moving the antibody along at a brisk pace. Read More
Shares of Targacept Inc. (NASDAQ:TRGT) fell to a 52-week low of $2.76 Tuesday after the company disclosed late Monday that it was sacking lead compound TC-5214 in the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB) after top-line phase IIb findings failed to show statistical significance in improving urinary incontinence. Read More
TOKYO – Two Japanese pharma companies are investing tens of millions into a new biotech venture fund created by Remiges Biopharma Fund LP as they look for new collaborations outside Japan. Read More
Immunotherapy, which can deliver extremely long-lasting remissions – for all intents and purposes, cures – is transforming cancer care for those patients who respond to it. Read More
SHANGHAI – Canbridge Life Sciences Inc., of Beijing, is on its way to bridging the gap that leaves many patients in China waiting anywhere from four years to six years for critical treatments approved in developed markets. With time of the essence, the firm is taking a portfolio approach to its in-licensing strategy, developing both clinical-stage and approved treatments, while mixing new drugs with treatments classified as medical devices. Read More
Contrafect Corp. priced its initial public offering (IPO) Tuesday for gross proceeds of $36 million to advance its early stage pipeline against drug-resistant pathogens, including a lead lysine candidate for Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and an antibody combo candidate for influenza. Read More
TOKYO – A hepatitis C drug in the market in Japan since 2011 has been associated with 15 deaths in a little more than two years and with severe side effects in more than 2,500 patients, according to reports that surfaced over the weekend. Read More
United Therapeutics Corp., of Silver Spring, Md., reported total revenues for the second quarter of $322.8 million. Net income was $111.9 million, or $2.35 per share, soundly beating analyst estimates of $1.75 per share. Read More
Amorchem LP, of Montreal, and Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said they are collaborating to discover a small-molecule disease-modifying therapy to treat myotonic muscular dystrophy 1, or Steinert's disease. Read More
Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said Gazyvaro (obinutuzumab) was approved in Europe in combination with chlorambucil chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have comorbidities making them unsuitable for an intensive therapy (full-dose fludarabine based therapy). Read More
Antisense Therapeutics Ltd., of Victoria, Australia, said dosing of all 26 patients in the phase II trial of ATL1103 for potentially life-threatening growth disorder acromegaly has now been completed. Read More
Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, reported the start of an international phase II study designed to assess the efficacy and safety of MSB0010718C, an investigational fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). Read More
