Moving aggressively to gain ground in the race for an all-oral hepatitis C virus (HCV) regimen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has put forward its nucleotide analogue HCV polymerase inhibitor, VX-135, in two collaborative, proof-of-concept Phase II trials with two different pharma partners. Read More
The single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, that accounts for more cases of inherited cancer than any other is rs6983267. That gene, said Jussi Taipale, of the Swedish Karolinska Institutet, increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer by about 20 percent. Read More
With government offices still hampered by the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy, the FDA was several days late responding to Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc.'s new drug application for lixivaptan. The decision, reported Thursday, was no shocker. Read More
• Cardiome Pharma Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said Nasdaq granted the firm's request for an additional 180 days to regain compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement. Read More
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., reported total revenues for the third quarter of $17.7 million, falling short of analyst estimates of $20.4 million. Revenue included $16.2 million in net U.S. sales for iron deficiency product Feraheme (fermuoxytol), which increased over the second quarter of 2012 due to improved pricing dynamics. Read More
• Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Parsippany, N.J, said it will adopt Actavis as its new global name, effective in 2013. The firm acquired Actavis earlier this year. Read More
• Uluru Inc., of Addison, Texas, said company management will invest approximately $400,000 on similar terms to the investment of Melmed Holdings AG, of Zug, Switzerland, in September. That binding term sheet called for Melmed to make an equity investment of $2 million in Uluru at 40 cents per share for 5 million shares of common stock, plus warrants to purchase 3 million shares at 60 cents each for a term of one year. Read More
• Hutchison MediPharma Ltd., of London, began a Phase I trial of theliatinib (HMPL-309) in advanced solid tumors. The objectives of the study are safety and tolerability, as well as determining the maximum tolerated dose. Efficacy against non-small-cell lung cancer and pharmacokinetics also will be evaluated. Theliatinib is an inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that has shown strong antitumor activity against EGFR wild-type tumors in preclinical studies. Read More
