True to its word, Exelixis Inc. started to prune its pipeline this week, handing Merck & Co. Inc. an exclusive worldwide license to its phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)-delta research and development program, including XL499 – the company's most advanced preclinical PI3K-delta inhibitor – and related compounds. Read More
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. agreed to acquire Intellikine Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., for $190 million up front, with $120 million in potential clinical milestone payments. Intellikine's assets include small molecule kinase inhibitors of the phoshoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K 1) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR2) pathways with ongoing Phase I trials in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Read More
Back-to-back studies published in Nature this week reported a comprehensive catalog of proteins that HIV interacts with in human cells, then followed up on one of those interactions in greater detail. The studies provide new insights into how HIV uses its host – and also a wealth of possible new targets to treat HIV infections. Read More
WASHINGTON – A consent decree with the FDA and a potential $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) are the price Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. is paying to once again have complete access to the U.S. market. Read More
BioWorld's offices will be closed Friday, Dec. 23, and Monday, Dec. 26, in observance of the Christmas Day holiday. No issues will be published those days. Read More
• Lycera Corp., of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it reached the first milestone under its research collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., triggering an undisclosed milestone payment. The collaboration is focused on developing drug candidates that target T-helper 17 (Th17) cells, key mediators of inflammation, to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. (See BioWorld Today, March 4, 2011.) Read More
• Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., completed its previously announced public offering of 24.7 million common shares, including overallotment, priced at $10.42 each, for gross proceeds of $257 million. Net proceeds of $243 million will support pivotal trial follow-up and approval filings for leukemia drug ponatinib. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 16, 2011.) Read More
• Celldex Therapeutics Inc., of Needham, Mass., completed accrual for its Phase IIb (EMERGE) trial of CDX-011 (glembatamumab vedotin) for metastatic breast cancer. The drug targets glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB). The randomized, controlled trial enrolled heavily pre-treated breast cancer patients unlikely to benefit from any approved therapies and whose tumors express GPNMB. Endpoints include response rate and progression-free survival. The trial is being carried out at 20 sites within the U.S. Read More
