As investors await a mipomersen filing later this quarter, Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. padded its cash position with an early stage option deal for one of its rare disease antisense programs. Read More
Essex Woodlands and Smith & Nephew plc welcomed the new year with a new idea that could launch the device maker into the drug world and create a trend for other life sciences companies and venture capitalists. Read More
Scientists reported that they have developed a vaccine that reduced monkeys' risk of becoming infected from simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV – the monkey equivalent of HIV – by 80 percent per exposure. Read More
Elevation Pharmaceuticals Inc. closed a $30 million Series B financing, led by new investor Novo Ventures, to advance its aerosol therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Read More
• BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said it received a €1 million (US$1.29 million) milestone payment, as provided in the commercialization agreement signed with partner Therabel Group for Loramyc in Europe. An additional €1 million payment is planned for the end of 2012. The milestone was triggered by approval from Italian health authorities for Loramyc, a treatment for oropharyngeal candidiasis in immunosuppressed patients. Read More
• Alkermes plc, of Dublin, Ireland, reported top-line results from a 32-patient Phase I/II study, showing that ALKS 5461 was able to significantly reduce depressive symptoms in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD), as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Patients in the study received ALKS 5461, a combination of an opioid modulator and buprenorphine, over a seven-day treatment period. Read More
