Bristol Myers Squibb Co., of New York, will realize operating synergies and tax benefits in addition to gaining access to Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s GLP-1 franchise, executives said in a Monday morning conference call regarding the pharma giant's acquisition of San Diego-based Amylin and partnership agreement with AstraZeneca plc. Read More
After Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced the acquisition of Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. late Friday afternoon, it emerged that the deal is to be a 50-50 joint purchase with AstraZeneca plc, and that all Amylin's assets are to be placed in the Type II diabetes collaboration the two pharma companies established in January 2007. Read More
Regulatory filings appear to be the next step for the LAMA/LABA bronchodilator combination of umeclidinium bromide (UMEC, or GSK573719) and vilanterol (VI), under development by GlaxoSmithKline plc and longtime partner Theravance Inc. The companies reported top-line results early Monday indicating the first four of seven Phase III studies of the investigational therapy showed superiority against both placebo and current standard of care in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read More
Wnt is a signaling pathway that plays critical roles in development, and its proteins can go awry in many cancers. Now, researchers from the University of Michigan have gained new insights into the relationship between Wnt signaling, metabolism and mitochondria. Read More
San Francisco-based start-up Gemmus Pharma Inc. closed an angel-backed Series A funding round of $1.45 million last week. The company expects the money and the planned second tranche will take its lead compound, GP1001, to a planned 2014 investigational new drug application (IND). Read More
• Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., of Carmiel, Israel, reported clinical data for taliglucerase alfa showing that at 36 months, patients with Gaucher disease had significant improvement in bone marrow fat fraction from baseline, with a mean change of 92 percent. Read More
• Cleveland BioLabs Inc., of Buffalo, N.Y., and its subsidiary Incuron LLC, of Moscow, said a study demonstrating that CBL0137 counteracted tumor formation in a mouse spontaneous breast cancer model was published online in Cancer Prevention Research. Read More
• Corcept Therapeutics Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., disclosed plans for an underwritten public offering of 11 million shares of common stock. Read More
• K-V Pharmaceutical Co., of St. Louis, said the FDA provided further guidance to health care providers and pregnant women at high risk for recurrent preterm birth. Read More
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, presented Phase III results showing that lipegfilgrastim and balugrastim, long-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factors, achieved the primary endpoint in breast cancer studies, demonstrating reduction in the duration of severe neutropenia in cycle 1, comparable to Neulasta (pegfilgrastim, Amgen Inc.) in both efficacy and safety measures. Read More
