Strategies & Technologies Driving Drug Discovery to Market
BIND, Pfizer Sign Accurin Collaboration
April 3, 2013 10:04 am | News | CommentsPfizer has agreed to pay BIND Therapeutics $160 million per drug as part of a collaboration to develop targeted medicines using nanotechnology. BIND is developing an experimental group of targeted, programmable medicines called Accurins to treat cancer, heart disease and inflammatory disorders.
Beta Amyloid Could Reverse MS Symptoms
April 3, 2013 3:00 am | News | CommentsA pair of recent research studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that beta amyloid—which is strongly implicated in Alzheimer’s disease—could reverse the symptoms of a multiple-sclerosis-like neurodegenerative disease in laboratory mice.
PARP Inhibitors May Be Alternative to Cisplatin
April 3, 2013 12:05 am | News | CommentsPoly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin. Cisplatin is one of the most widely used conventional, anticancer chemotherapy drugs.
Eli Lilly Spending $260M on Improvements
April 2, 2013 12:07 pm | News | CommentsDrugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. is planning to spend about $260 million to expand insulin production and make some other capital improvements to sites in its home city. Last fall, Lilly said it would expand its manufacturing operations in Indianapolis to help meet growing demand for diabetes treatments.
Accusations Fly After Lilly Heist
April 2, 2013 12:07 pm | News | CommentsA federal lawsuit alleges that thieves who broke into an Eli Lilly and Co. warehouse in Connecticut three years ago and stole more than $60 million worth of drugs obtained a copy of a report that revealed weaknesses in the building's security system.
Axelar Shrinking Cancer Study
April 2, 2013 11:59 am | News | CommentsAxelar announced that interim results of a Phase 2 clinical trial indicate that AXL1717 is effective in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The company believes it has sufficient data to guide development of the drug, and will finalize the study with fewer patients than initially planned.
Optimizing Pre-Clinical Drug Safety Conference
April 2, 2013 11:19 am | EventsDetermining the safety and toxicity of a drug is an extremely important and complicated task. While in the early discovery phases for a new drug, testing the drug’s toxicology has become an integral part of early research.
Vaccine for Deadly Virus Closer to Reality
April 2, 2013 11:03 am | News | CommentsResearchers have learned the precise structure of the mosquito-transmitted chikungunya virus pathogen while it is bound to antibodies, showing how the infection is likely neutralized. The findings could help researchers develop effective vaccines against the infection.
Vision Loss Linked to Cholesterol
April 1, 2013 8:00 pm | News | CommentsResearchers have found that age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 50, shares a common link with atherosclerosis. Both problems have the same underlying defect: the inability to remove a buildup of fat and cholesterol.
Patent Rejection Could Cause Global Backlash
April 1, 2013 7:22 pm | by Linda A. Johnson | News | CommentsThe India Supreme Court's rejection of a patent for an improved version of a costly cancer drug by Novartis AG could have big implications for the world's largest drugmakers. The ruling signals the latest shift in the world of drug development in emerging markets where drugmakers have been looking for growth.
Molecule Blocks Inflammation
April 1, 2013 11:40 am | News | CommentsScientists at the University of Pittsburgh have discovered a biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival and improved lung function in animal models of pneumonia.
BioMarin Submits Vimizim BLA
April 1, 2013 11:16 am | News | CommentsBioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has submitted a Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy under evaluation for the treatment of patients with the rare lysosomal storage disorder mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA.
FDA Approves Invokana
April 1, 2013 10:55 am | News | CommentsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-its-kind diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson that uses a new method to lower blood sugar — flushing it out in patients' urine. Last year, the FDA rejected dapagliflozin, a similar experimental drug in the same class.
Novartis Loses India Fight
April 1, 2013 1:58 am | News | CommentsIndia's Supreme Court rejected drug maker Novartis AG's right to patent a new version of a cancer drug in a landmark decision that healthcare activists say ensures the poor will get continued access to cheap, generic versions of lifesaving medicines.
New Clues About ALS Development
March 31, 2013 8:00 am | News | CommentsScientists say that animal studies show a type of central nervous system cell other than motor neurons plays a fundamental role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal degenerative disease. The discovery holds promise for identifying new targets for interrupting the disease’s progress.
