Kinase inhibitors are collectively one of the most successful drug classes, but they are challenging to develop in part because their activity usually depends on their overall effect on multiple different kinases. Read More

Astrazeneca plc, of London, said the phase III Kronos trial showed positive results for PT-010 triple combination therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read More

Multivir Inc., of San Francisco, reported that tumors shown to be resistant to anti-PD-1 therapy were made vulnerable to it when the therapy was combined with one of its immune gene therapies, Adenoviral p53 or Ad-Relaxin. Read More

Stemline Therapeutics Inc., of New York, said it closed its public offering of about 4.3 million shares of common stock, including the exercise in full of the option to purchase 555,000 additional shares, at a price of $14 per share. Read More

HONG KONG – Astrazeneca plc has received approval for two drug candidates – PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) and IL-5 receptor targeting Fasenra (benralizumab) – from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the latest sign of the big pharma's recent improvement in productivity following its 2011 overhaul. Read More

Separate research teams offered insight this week into how Ras-driven pancreatic cancers develop, and reported that a small molecule targeting mutated K-Ras led to tumor regression in patient-derived xenograft mouse models of K-Ras-driven cancers. Read More

Talk with the administrators of any given U.S. hospital system, and you'll hear their frustration over shortages of essential medications developed in the 1950s, '60s and '70s – long off-patent – plaguing the U.S. health care system. Read More

It's been a heady January for biopharma financings, but talk of frothy markets is certain to escalate after Solid Biosciences Inc. salvaged its offering with some fancy footwork, pricing 7.8 million common shares at $16 apiece to gross $125 million. Solid, of Cambridge, Mass., originally planned to offer 5.9 million shares priced in a range of $16 to $18, setting its sights on a raise of about $100 million. Read More

DUBLIN – Merck & Co. Inc., Roche Holding AG, Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA and Glaxosmithkline plc entered the winners' enclosure following the monthly meeting of the EMA's Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) in London this week. Read More

Friday's approval of the resubmitted NDA for Lutathera (lutetium [177Lu] oxodotreotide) stands as proof that issues raised by a complete response letter (CRL) "were really on technical problems," Stefan Buono, former CEO of Advanced Accelerator Applications SA (AAA), told BioWorld. Read More