Investors must wait until a conference call later this week for full details, but the decision by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc. to ditch their $101 million merger might seem almost inevitable, coming in the wake of problems for BioCryst's drug candidates in flu, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hereditary angioedema. Read More
Although Parkinson's disease (PD) is estimated to be the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, very little is known about its underlying cause. That could be about to change as scientists continue to drill down into the molecular machinery implicated in the disease. Read More
The third spin-off from the entrepreneurship partnership program (EPP) launched in April by Merck KGaA biopharmaceutical division Merck Serono SA in conjunction with the closure of its Geneva headquarters, Asceneuron SA is focusing on one of biotech's most elusive targets: Alzheimer's disease (AD). Read More
If you have to run a marathon, do it as a relay. That, apparently, is the immune system's solution to dealing with chronic infections, a study published in the Nov. 30, 2012, issue of Science suggested. Read More
A report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that an increase in prescription use reduces Medicare spending on other health care services. Read More
• Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., priced its underwritten offering of 11 million shares at $2 per share, for gross proceeds of $22 million. Read More
• Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, said the European Medicines Agency accepted for review the marketing authorization application for Cometriq (cabozantinib) for the proposed indication of progressive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Read More
• Theravectys SAS, of Paris, was granted authorization by the National Security Agency for Medicines and Health Products in France and the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products in Belgium to launch a Phase I/II trial with its anti-HIV therapeutic vaccine candidate. Read More
• Eisai Inc., of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., said the FDA accepted for priority review Eisai's NDA for AcipHex Delayed-Release Sprinkle Capsules 5mg and 10mg for the proposed indication of healing of gastroesophageal reflux Disease (GERD), maintenance of healing of GERD and improvement of symptoms of GERD in children 1 to 11 years of age. Read More
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a role for SIRT-2 in programmed necrosis. The notion of programmed necrosis was once something of a contradiction in terms, with necrosis considered accidental, injury-induced cell death as opposed to the programmed cell death of apoptosis. Read More
