LONDON – Polyphor Ltd. is in line for a potential CHF465 million (US$510.6 million) in up-front and milestone payments after outlicensing its antibiotic program POL7080 to Roche AG, in a deal hinting that the various government and regulatory initiatives to promote the development of treatments for drug-resistant infections are rekindling pharma interest in the field. Read More
With Gilead Sciences Inc. barely a month away from a possible history-making FDA approval of an all-oral regimen for hepatitis C virus (HCV), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting in Washington put the spotlight on other HCV contenders over the weekend, with much of the buzz focused on a protease inhibitor/NS5A inhibitor combination from Merck & Co. Inc. Read More
LONDON – Geneuro SA announced positive results from the Phase IIa trial of GNbAC1, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting an endogenous retroviral protein identified as involved in the onset and development of multiple sclerosis (MS), with the drug showing a very good safety profile and nine of 10 patients having stable disease, as assessed by MRI brain scans. Read More
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Scios Inc. will pay $2.2 billion to the U.S. government and 45 states to resolve criminal and civil claims in multiple settlement agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 45 states. Read More
VIENNA – Whisper it softly, but a degree of optimism may be returning to European biotechnology. Europe being Europe, it remains tentative and hedged with multiple qualifications. Read More
LONDON – Argen-x BV has raised €5 million (US$6.8 million) as an extension to its $37.1 million Series B financing round, allowing the company to accelerate a third antibody fragment program, ARGX-113, into clinical development. Read More
• Anavex Life Sciences Corp., of New York, said a report has been published in Neuropsychopharmacology demonstrating that Anavex 2-73 dose-dependently blocks Tau and amyloid-beta proteins and memory deficit in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Read More
• Biolinerx Ltd., of Jerusalem, received approval from the Finnish National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health to begin a Phase I/II trial of BL-7010 for celiac disease. Read More
• Prometic Life Sciences Inc., of Laval, Quebec, presented preclinical data supporting claims that PBI-4050 could be used to treat liver conditions like nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Read More
• Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said it started an underwritten public offering of 3.3 million shares of its common stock. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund the ongoing clinical development of eravacycline and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Read More
• Silvergate Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Denver, said that Epaned (enalapril maleate powder for oral solution) is available by prescription for treatment of hypertension in people older than 1 month. Read More
• Merck and Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said that in a Phase III study, its vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV), V503, prevented 97 percent of cervical, vaginal and vulvar pre-cancers caused by HPV types 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58. Read More
