Almost 15 percent of couples are infertile, at least by the definition of the World Health Organization: no pregnancy after a year of trying without birth control. In about half of those cases, the male partner is the one who is infertile; and in nearly a fifth of those cases, no one can figure out why. Read More
Pfizer Inc. will acquire approximately 8.3 million shares in Icagen Inc. at a share price of $6 to become the majority shareholder in the company. Icagen is developing its pipeline of drugs targeted at ion channels for pain disorders, and three of its targets are covered by a 2007 collaboration agreement with Pfizer. Read More
Regulus Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., identified a third microRNA target in its alliance with GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), of London, triggering a preclinical milestone payment from GSK. Under the alliance, Regulus has the potential to earn more than $600 million in payments, including license and milestone payments and tiered royalties up to double digits on worldwide sales. Read More
In what may be one of the more questionable mergers in biotech history, AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Allos Therapeutics Inc., two firms that have little in common besides recently launched products that have underperformed commercially, agreed to combine in an all-stock deal valued at about $686 million. Read More
Dynavax Technologies Corp. reported Wednesday that top-line data from the Phase III trial comparing its investigational hepatitis B vaccine Heplisav met all three clinical endpoints, demonstrating noninferiority, superiority and safety in comparison to the marketed hep B vaccine Engerix-B (GlaxoSmithKline). Nevertheless, investors failed to respond with enthusiasm, perhaps reflecting nervousness about a second piece of news regarding the company's consistency analysis of manufacturing data. Read More
Talon Therapeutics Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., enrolled its first patient in a Phase I trial of Marqibo (vincristine sulfate liposomes injection) for pediatric use in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The company said that the drug has potential for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Read More
