Strategies & Technologies Driving Drug Discovery to Market
GlobeImmune Kicks Off Phase 2 Trial
April 4, 2013 11:44 am | News | CommentsGlobeImmune Inc. has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute to evaluate GI-6207 in subjects with medullary thyroid cancer. Patients will either be treated with GI-6207 for one year or be observed for six months and then treated with GI-6207 for one year.
BMS Cutting 300 Amylin Jobs
April 4, 2013 11:42 am | News | CommentsBristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it is closing Amylin Pharmaceuticals' headquarters in San Diego and eliminating about 300 positions at the facility. Bristol-Myers said in a statement all the work that is done in the San Diego facility will move to other locations by the end of 2014.
Generic Zovirax Will Hurt Valeant
April 4, 2013 9:58 am | News | CommentsValeant Pharmaceuticals said that a newly approved generic version of one of its drugs could significantly reduce its profits this year. Mylan Inc. has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the first generic version of Valeant's Zovirax ointment.
Walgreen Follows CVS Lead
April 4, 2013 12:08 am | by Tom Murphy | News | CommentsWalgreen Co. has expanded the reach of its drugstore clinics to handling chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure. Walgreen's decision follows a move by CVS Caremark Corp. a few years ago to handle chronic conditions at most of its 640 MinuteClinics.
Valeant Ups Buyout Offer to $418M
April 3, 2013 10:45 am | News | CommentsObagi Medical Products said that Valeant Pharmaceuticals boosted its offer to buy the dermatology products maker, topping a bid made by a rival. Obagi said it struck a deal with Valeant Pharmaceuticals that calls for it to pay a total of about $418.3 million, for the company.
Autism Related to Genomic Instability
April 3, 2013 10:34 am | News | CommentsChildren with autism have increased levels of genetic change in regions of the genome prone to DNA rearrangements, called hotspots. Research indicates that these genetic changes come in the form of an excess of duplicated DNA segments and may affect the chances that a child will develop autism.
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.
