DUBLIN – Proteros Biostructures GmbH could bank up to $126 million in up-front and research funding, as well as milestone payments, from a drug discovery deal with Merck & Co. focused on an undisclosed epigenetic cancer target. The deal also involves tiered royalties on product sales. Read More

Quartet Medicine Inc. CEO Kevin Pojasek told BioWorld Today that the finished series A round brought aboard "a financial investor with a long-term view, making sure we can carry this [program] as far as we want, really, into the future" research on tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) as it relates to chronic pain and inflammation.Cambridge, Mass.-based Quartet snagged a final $6.25 million for a total of $23.25 million, drawing three new backers, including Remeditex Ventures LLC and a pair of undisclosed Shanghai-based funders. Read More

Under-the-radar biosimilars partners Formycon AG and Bioeq GmbH gained altitude by disclosing that they initiated a pivotal phase III trial of FYB201, a biosimilar of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech Inc.), in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). Read More

HONG KONG – Genes are no longer patentable in Australia after the country's highest court overturned on Wednesday two earlier decisions by a federal court and ruled that a gene linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer cannot be patented. Read More

No one seems to disagree that the NIH needs more funding. But finding a way to do that could prove tricky. Read More

Tomas Lindahl, of the British Francis Crick Institute, Paul Modrich, of Duke University School of Medicine, and Aziz Sancar, of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, jointly won the 2015 Nobel prize in chemistry "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair." Read More

Evoke Pharma Inc., of Solana Beach, Calif., said it has amended its loan and security agreement with Square 1 Bank to extend the interest-only payment term for an additional 12 months. Read More

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The FDA finalized its 2008 draft guidance that described how an integrated summary of effectiveness (ISE) should be prepared for new drug and biologics license applications. Read More

Astrazeneca plc, of London, completed divestment of Caprelsa (vandetanib) to Genzyme, a division of Paris-based Sanofi SA. Read More

Synlogic Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Bharatt Chowrira president. Read More

Opko Health Inc., of Miami, offered data from its completed 12-month hGH-CTP phase II pediatric growth hormone deficiency clinical study in two oral presentations at the 54th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology in Barcelona, Spain. Read More