Biotron Ltd., of Sydney, received a notice of allowance for U.S. Patent application 11/922,281, “Antiviral Compounds and Methods,” for the composition and methods of treatment with its antiviral compound BIT225. BIT225 is in a phase II trial in HCV genotype 3 patients. Read More

Alchemia Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, appointed Santo J. Costa as non-executive chairman of the board, effective March 1. Over a 30 year period, some of Costa’s positions included president and chief operating officer of Quintiles Transnational Corp. and senior vice president, administration and general counsel of Glaxo Inc. Read More

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, obtained exclusive rights to Cynviloq (Genexol-PM) in Australia, Canada and Mexico from Samyang Biopharmaceuticals, of South Korea. Sorrento already has exclusive rights from Samyang in the U.S. and the 27 European Union countries. Cynviloq is a next-generation branded paclitaxel formulation to treat metastatic breast cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other solid tumors. Read More

HONG KONG – Most of Favrille Inc.’s market value vanished in 2008 after the firm said it would cease development of its active immunotherapy Specifid, which missed its primary endpoint in a pivotal phase III study in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Almost a year later, San Diego-based Favrille merged with MyMedical-Records.com. The company once best known for providing health care IT services is just now stepping up its push into the biotechnology space in Asia. Read More

LONDON – Researchers have worked out how a normal brain protein can reduce levels of the harmful proteins that accumulate during the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The protein, called SORLA, is known to decrease concentrations of amyloid-beta peptides, which build up in Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

TAIPEI, Taiwan – With Singapore-headquartered Aslan Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd. last week announcing that it had opened a new office here, the company has moved that much closer toward its goal of taking advantage of clinical trial infrastructure in Asia to develop novel medicines for global markets. Read More

HONG KONG – With a supportive environment for regenerative medicine created by the Japanese government, Takara Bio Inc. (TYO: 4974), has launched a phase I clinical trial to study its MAGE-A4 antigen-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) gene therapy in esophageal cancer. Read More

HONG KONG – Shanghai, the economic hub of China, wants to recreate itself into the biopharmaceutical development center of China, aiming to generate ¥350 billion (US$57.7 billion) in economic aggregate by the end of 2017. Read More