Bowing to the inevitable, the board of Algeta ASA voted unanimously to recommend a sweetened NOK362-per-share bid from Bayer AG, which values the company at NOK17.6 billion (US$2.9 billion). Read More
Shortly after unveiling its newest clinical candidate for infantile spasms and nephrotic syndrome, Retrophin Inc. filed for a $40 million initial public offering (IPO), with plans to move its stock to Nasdaq, trading under “RTRX.” Read More
In a bid to modernize and put patients first, Glaxosmithkline plc has announced two marketing reforms that will be globally implemented in two years. Read More
U.S. drug pricing continues under attack on a number of fronts as lawmakers and payers look for ways to trim health care costs as part of the overall deficit battle. Read More
Science and Nature offered their year-end roundups of the most important scientific advances of the year and the people behind them, respectively, this week. Those lists are not exclusive to biological science, nor to applied science. But there was plenty for the biopharma industry on this year’s Christmas list, starting with Science’s breakthrough of the year: cancer immunotherapy. Read More
Genzyme, of Cambridge, Mass., a Sanofi company, said the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) for patients with active disease defined by clinical or imaging features to slow the accumulation of physical disability and reduce the frequency of clinical relapses. Read More
Helsinn Group, of Lugano, Switzerland, and Mundipharma Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, signed an exclusive license and distribution agreement, covering China, Hong Kong and Macao, for netupitant-palonosetron fixed-dose combination (NEPA), a Helsinn product under development for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Read More
Athersys Inc., of Cleveland, completed enrollment in a Phase II study of Multistem cell therapy for ulcerative colitis under a 2009 collaboration with Pfizer Inc., of New York. Read More
