TAIPEI, Taiwan – It's been a long wait, but Taiwan's drug development industry might just be coming of age. While the island nation is still awaiting its first home-grown innovator drug, a number of companies are almost there. Read More
Second Genome Inc. brought on board its first big pharma partner, signing Janssen Biotech Inc. to a multiyear deal focused on using the San Bruno, Calif.-based biotech's microbiome modulation platform to discover drugs for ulcerative colitis. Read More
Execs at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. hope to repeat their Phase II success with PEG-PAL (PEGylated recombinant phenylalanine ammonia lysate) for phenylketonuria in a new Phase III program. Read More
• The FDA is seeking comments on a proposal to make masked and de-identified data from drug and device applications available to non-FDA researchers to spur innovation and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of medical product development. Read More
• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said underwriters of its public offering of Class A common stock have partially exercised their option to purchase an additional 704,948 shares at a public offering price of $13 apiece. Read More
• BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., of New York, received the third installment of a 2013 grant from Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) for $335,000. The total grant of $729,000 yearly was awarded for development of BrainStorm's NurOwn autologous stem cells for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Read More
• NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, recruited the first patient in a Phase IIa trial evaluating safety and pharmacokinetics of the company's NeuroSTAT drug candidate in traumatic brain injury. The open-label, uncontrolled study, which is being conducted at Copenhagen (Denmark) University Hospital, expects to enroll 20 patients. Read More
• Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, said it has been offered 96.4 percent of the shares (about 32 million) of Conceptus Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., in accordance with a previously disclosed $1.1 billion takeover plan. Read More
