A year after landing a $450-million up-front deal with Abbott for its lead antioxidant inflammation modulator (AIM) bardoxolone methyl, Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. hit the rewind button, gaining another one-time $400 million license payment from the pharma giant to develop the rest of its second-generation AIM portfolio. Read More
The Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee (PDAC) was not playing the tune Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. wanted to hear Monday as the committee tried to harmonize safety concerns for Adasuve with its benefits in treating acute agitation in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Read More
SAN DIEGO – Pharmacyclics Inc. grabbed the spotlight on Friday with a $150 million up-front deal that could reach a total of $975 million with Janssen Biotech Inc. for Phase II hematologic cancer drug PCI-32765. At the 53rd Annual American Society of Hematology meeting, hematologists and investors got to see some of what all the fuss is about. Read More
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s plan to seek accelerated approval for multiple myeloma drug carfilzomib based on data from an open-label, single-arm Phase IIb trial was always risky – but it might have gotten a bit riskier over the weekend. Read More
LONDON – Closing the year with some cheer for the sector, Tissue Regenix Group plc has raised £25 million (US$39 million) in a placing, enabling the regenerative medicine specialist to begin to advance several programs in parallel. Read More
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., completed its acquisition of Adolor Corp. for approximately $221 million. All outstanding shares of Adolor were acquired for $4.25 per share in up-front cash plus one contingent payment right per share, entitling the holder to receive additional cash payments of up to $4.50 for each share owned if certain regulatory approvals and/or commercialization milestones for ADL5945 are achieved. Read More
• Soligenix Inc., of Princeton, N.J., published data from an investigator-initiated Phase II trial of orBec (oral beclomethasone dipropionate) showing the drug was well tolerated but did not achieve statistical significance in reducing graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) following hematopoietic cell transplantation, as previously reported. The data were published in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Soligenix halted a Phase III GVHD trial in September after an interim analysis showed it was unlikely to meet its endpoint. Read More
• Incyte Corp., of Wilmington, Del., presented further analyses from its pivotal Phase III program for Jakafi (ruxolitinib), which included data showing consistent benefit of the drug over placebo in spleen volume reduction and symptom improvement across subgroups of myelofibrosis patients, as well as an overall survival advantage. Jakafi gained approval for myelofibrosis earlier this year. Read More
