Gilenya (fingolimod, Novartis AG) which the FDA approved in 2010, has shaped the market, as the first oral drug for multiple sclerosis. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 23, 2010.) Read More
Shares in Orexo AB dipped 10 percent last week on news that the company was seeking SEK250 million (US$40.1 million) in a discounted rights offering directed at existing shareholders and convertible bond holders. Read More
Fate Therapeutics Inc.'s approach to stem cell therapy – developing small-molecule drugs aimed at modulating adult stem cells – has attracted another investor: Takeda Ventures Inc. Read More
Talon Therapeutics Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., began a Phase III trial of Marqibo (vincristine sulfate liposomes injection) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The study will be carried out by the German High-Grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma study group (DSHNHL). The trial will enroll 1,000 patients 61-80 years of age, and patient treatment will begin in the third quarter. Read More
PDL BioPharma Inc., of Incline Village, Nev., said it intends to offer $135 million worth of new convertible senior notes due May 2015. Underwriter BofA Merrill Lynch will have an option to purchase $20.25 million worth of additional notes to cover any overallotments. Read More
Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Malvern, Pa., reported first quarter net revenue of $58.4 million, a 28 percent increase over the first quarter of 2010 but still below analyst expectations of $61.1 million. First quarter revenues from Xiaflex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) for Dupuytren's contracture were $12.3 million and revenues from Testim (testosterone gel) for hypogonadism were $46.1 million. Read More
Paladin Labs Inc., of Montreal, granted Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, an exclusive right to develop and commercialize fomepizole (marketed as Antizol in Canada and the U.S.) for the treatment of ethylene glycol and methanol poisonings in Japan. Read More
Allos Therapeutics Inc. picked up $50 million in up-front cash in a much-anticipated ex-U.S. deal for peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) drug Folotyn (pralatrexate) and hopes the co-development and commercialization muscle of Mundipharma International Corp. Ltd. will help Folotyn capture a large portion of second-line PTCL market outside the U.S., estimated at about $400 million. Read More
In the two months since the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that ravaged much of Japan's eastern coast, several of the country's biopharmaceutical companies have worked around the clock to assess the damages and get their facilities back into production despite power outages and crippled infrastructure. Read More
