When analyst Steve Brozak remembers 9/11, he thinks about the what-ifs of life. If he had not been kept up most of the night before by his newborn, he would have been in the World Trade Center that morning for breakfast. Read More
Shares of Dendreon Corp. – which have plummeted nearly 70 percent in just over a month – edged up 52 cents on Friday in the wake of a restructuring that will eliminate about one-quarter of the biotech's workforce, or roughly 500 employees. Read More
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, said it mailed its offer and takeover bid to shareholders of Afexa Life Sciences Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta. Last month, Valeant made the offer to acquire Afexa for C71 cents (US73 cents) per share, or C$76 million, which trumped an earlier bid by Montreal-based Paladin Labs Inc. Valeant's offer expires at 5 p.m. (Edmonton time) Oct. 17, 2011. Read More
• Theraclone Sciences Inc., of Seattle, closed a $10.6 million extension to its Series B financing, bringing the total round to $41 million. Previous investors ARCH Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, MPM Capital, Healthcare Ventures, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Amgen Ventures and Zenyaku Kogyo participated in the round. Proceeds are expected to help advance the company's clinical programs and support ongoing discovery projects using its I-STAR technology platform, which is designed for the rapid screening and identification of rare, therapeutically relevant human antibodies. Read More
• Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said it started a Phase I trial of an investigational molecule designed to address the cognitive and behavioral deficits associated with Down syndrome by targeting the gamma-amino butyric acid system. The study will recruit adults with Down syndrome between the ages of 18 and 30, and will assess the drug's safety and tolerability. Read More
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have identified an ion channel that plays an important role in two types of chronic pain: neuropathic pain, which comes from nerve damage that renders normal stimuli painful, and inflammatory pain. Read More
WASHINGTON – It took Congress nearly a decade to pass the first major patent reform bill in nearly 60 years. Now it could take another decade or so for the new act to be thoroughly fleshed out in the courts and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Read More
San Diego-based Panmira Pharmaceuticals LLC is not the traditional biotech start-up. Founded this month to develop assets spun out ahead of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s July acquisition of Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., the new company really could be labeled Amira Part Two. Read More
