While last year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting ended on cautiously encouraging advances in the cancer immunotherapy space, this year's meeting has put immunotherapy front and center, thanks in part to much-awaited data on and anti-PDL-1 and anti-PD-1 drugs from Roche AG and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., respectively. (See BioWorld Today, June 6, 2012.) Read More
Epizyme Inc.'s initial public offering (IPO) hit the top end of the pricing range and added more than a million more shares than expected, with a next-day aftermarket performance that suggests enthusiasm about epigenetics will continue to grow. Read More
GHENT, Belgium – Patrik De Haes, CEO of Thrombogenics NV, rang the opening bell – albeit remotely – on the NYSE Euronext Brussels exchange to kick off proceedings at the 2013 Knowledge For Growth meeting at the International Convention Center in Ghent, Belgium, last Thursday. Read More
BEIJING, China – Paul Grayson scoffs at the biopharma executives who trumpet their expensive search for new biologic targets to create completely novel, and crazily expensive biologics. He said that approach does not apply to cost-sensitive China and he is championing a new definition of "novel" biologics in his development of an antibody for rheumatoid arthritis and other products. Read More
LONDON – Nanobiotix SA presented positive safety data from the first clinical study of NBTXR3, a nanoparticle drug that enhances the effects of radiotherapy on tumor cells without damaging healthy tissue, at ASCO on Saturday. Read More
• Xbiotech, of Austin, Texas, developed an antibody that neutralizes interleukin-6 (IL-6) using its True Human technology, cloned directly from a human immune response. The company is working on a manufacturing process for the antibody, and expects to begin clinical studies in early 2014. Read More
• Shire plc, of Dublin, settled litigation against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., a division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, related to Teva's abbreviated new drug application for a generic version of Shire's Intuniv (guanfacince) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Read More
• Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, started METEOR, a Phase III pivotal trial comparing cabozantinib to everolimus (Afinitor, Novartis) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have experienced disease progression following treatment with at least one prior VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The primary endpoint for the trial is progression-free survival. Read More
Anonymous commenters have uncovered irregularities in a paper published by scientists from Oregon Health & Science University that reported efficient cloning of human embryonic stem cells in May. (See BioWorld Today, May 16, 2013.) Specifically, four images appear to have been duplicated in the paper. Read More
