PHILADELPHIA – If the 2015 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) had a tag line, it should probably be "Blocking PD-1 works." Read More
The snail-horn sensitivity of investors in chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy made itself known as data continue to spill from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Philadelphia, with early results offered by Novartis AG sending ripples across the space. Read More
HONG KONG – Australian investment company Brandon Capital closed the largest life science fund to date in Australia after raising A$200 million (US$155 million). Brandon plans to use the capital to fill a shortage in the country of translational funds that put expertise into commercializing medical discoveries. Read More
Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares fell sharply Monday, hitting a 52-week low after the company revealed that one of its lead candidates, Ampion, failed to provide better pain relief that a placebo injection in a phase III study of people suffering from osteoarthritis of the of the knee (OAK). Read More
PHILADELPHIA – Patients treated with Merck & Co Inc.'s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) had better outcomes than could be achieved with their respective standards of care in melanoma and lung cancer trials. Results were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Read More
SHANGHAI – In its seventh year, the Chinabio Partnering Forum is the most active partnering event in China, akin to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Even after a tough year for Western companies with corruption probes rattling the industry and regulatory hurdles inching ever higher, "Big pharmas are still committed to China," said Greg Scott, founder and chairman of the Chinabio Group in his keynote address. "Partnering activity is definitely on the rise." Read More
In denying the eighth citizen petition filed by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. to protect its blockbuster multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Copaxone from generic competition, the FDA followed a hard and fast regulatory line distinguishing complex nonbiologics from biologics. Read More
Efforts to develop remyelinating therapies in multiple sclerosis (MS) might have stolen some of the headlines heading into the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN) 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, but there are still plenty of data on traditional approaches to MS treatment on hand this week – some 500 presentations altogether – beginning with a slew of posters unveiled today. Read More
Epizyme Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said underwriters for its recent public offering partially exercised their option to purchase additional shares of common stock, buying 701,448 shares at the offering price of $20.75 apiece. Read More
Neostem Inc., of New York, said it expanded manufacturing services under an existing services agreement between its wholly owned subsidiary, PCT, and Kite Pharma Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., which is developing engineered autologous T cell therapy (eACT) products for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Actavis plc, of Dublin, said the FDA approved an expansion of the Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) label for the treatment of adults with upper limb spasticity. Actavis gained rights to Botox through its recently completed acquisition of Allergan Inc. Read More
Blueprint Medicines Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., disclosed new preclinical data demonstrating that its drug candidate BLU-285 has significant anti-tumor activity in treatment-resistant models of gastrointestinal stromal tumors and achieved and maintained complete tumor regression in all mice treated at the highest dose level. Read More
Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said new data, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) meeting in Washington, continue to support Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) as an effective, long-term treatment for people who are living with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Read More
Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Inc., of New York, started an international phase III study (EMR 100070-004) designed to assess the efficacy and safety of the investigational cancer immunotherapy avelumab (MSB0010718C), compared with docetaxel, in patients with stage IIIb/IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have experienced disease progression after receiving a prior platinum-containing doublet therapy. Read More
