Samsung, a noted manufacturer of televisions and other electronic devices, entered the world of biotechnology with its new division, Samsung Biologics, in May. Wasting no time, that company has launched a $300 million joint venture with Biogen Idec Inc. to develop and manufacture biosimilars. Read More
Seattle-based Dendreon Corp., which made headlines throughout 2011 due to slower-than-expected sales of prostate cancer vaccine Provenge (sipuleucel-T), agreed to sell its royalty interest related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug Victrelis (boceprevir) for $125 million in cash. Read More
Anti-angiogenesis is one of the granddaddy strategies against tumors. But ironically, increasing blood flow, too, has its place in cancer therapy. Read More
Shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. spiked 21 percent after the Tustin, Calif.-based firm reported a 50 percent improvement in overall response rate (ORR) in a Phase II study testing bavituximab in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSLCL). Read More
• Numerate Inc., of San Bruno, Calif., entered a research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., of Burlington, Ontario. The collaboration will use Numerate's in silico drug design technology to generate small-molecule drug leads for an undisclosed infectious disease target. Read More
• Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., reported Phase I results showing that its ISIS-APOCIIIRx treatment produced rapid, dose-dependent reductions of up to 78 percent in apolipoprotein C-III protein and up to 44 percent in blood triglyceride levels in healthy volunteers. The drug, which targets the apoC-III gene, also was found to be safe and well tolerated. Data were presented at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory RNA Therapeutics meeting in New York. Read More
