Strategies & Technologies Driving Drug Discovery to Market
Pfizer Having Second Thoughts on Remoxy
May 10, 2013 11:35 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPfizer Inc. may not pursue further development of Remoxy, an experimental pain drug that has been plagued with delays in regulatory approval. Durect Corp. developed Remoxy and licensed it to Pain Therapeutics Inc. who in turn sublicensed the drug to Pfizer.
ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics
May 10, 2013 10:52 am | EventsThe 61st ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics begins on Sunday, June 9 with tutorial lectures at 5:00 pm and the opening session and plenary lecture at 6:45 pm. A welcome reception in the poster/exhibit hall will follow.
Muscular Dystrophy Trial Starting
May 9, 2013 6:15 pm | News | CommentsThe National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry and drugmaker Nippon Shinyaku Co. will start a clinical trial of a drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that affects around one in 3,500 boys, aiming to release it for sale in five years.
State Pharmacists Back FDA Oversight
May 9, 2013 2:47 pm | by Matthew Perrone | News | CommentsThe National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has thrown its support behind a proposal giving the Food and Drug Administration authority over large compounding pharmacies, in an effort to head off more outbreaks tied to contaminated medications.
Competition Hammers Provenge Sales
May 9, 2013 1:54 pm | News | CommentsDendreon Corp. said that sales of its prostate cancer therapy Provenge fell in the first quarter because of increased competition from two newer drugs. Regulators approved Medication's Xtandi in August, and Johnson & Johnson has received approval to market Zytiga for use against prostate cancer.
Lawsuit Alleges Merck Gender Discrimination
May 9, 2013 11:48 am | News | CommentsA Merck & Co. sales representative is suing the drugmaker for at least $100 million, saying Merck doesn't give women equal opportunities for advancement and that women are told they have to choose between having children and taking bigger roles at the company.
A Target Rich Environment
May 9, 2013 11:45 am | by Cynthia Fox, Science Editor | Articles | CommentsRecent meetings have provided a showcase for many potential druggable tumor targets. The range of potential new drug targets has been expansive, especially if one counts the whole-exome sequencing work being performed for the Cancer Genome Atlas project.
Almac Out-Licenses ALM201
May 9, 2013 10:45 am | News | CommentsAlmac Discovery announced the licensing of its novel anti-angiogenic peptide ALM201 to Shin Poong Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. for clinical development and marketing in South Korea. Shin Poong will make an undisclosed upfront payment and pay milestones and royalties as part of the deal.
Vaccine Program Aimed at Vulnerable Girls
May 9, 2013 7:34 am | by Linda A. Johnson | News | CommentsTwo multinational drugmakers are teaming up with top global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world's poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer. The ambitious project ultimately is intended to inoculate more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries by 2020.
Producing Orally Bioavailable Biologics
May 8, 2013 3:24 pm | by Nick Terrett, Chief Scientic Officer; Ensemble Therapeutics Corp, Cambridge, Mass. | Articles | CommentsDrug developers have been in a quandary for some years now. The Human Genome Project offered novel insights into disease, including numerous tantalizing targets for therapeutic intervention. Unfortunately, many of these are protein-protein interactions not readily addressed by conventional “Rule of 5” small-molecule drugs.
Alexza Licenses Adasuve to Teva
May 8, 2013 1:30 pm | News | CommentsAlexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. will market its agitation drug Adasuve in the United States. The companies said that Teva will be responsible for all U.S. commercial and clinical-related activities, including a required post-approval study.
FDA Reviewing Allergy Therapy
May 8, 2013 12:47 pm | News | CommentsDrugmaker Merck & Co. says the Food and Drug Administration is reviewing its second application to sell a new type of allergy treatment meant to gradually reduce allergic reactions over time, rather than just relieving sneezing, itching and other symptoms temporarily.
Diabetes Increases Heart Disease Risk
May 8, 2013 10:16 am | News | CommentsType 1 diabetes appears to increase the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death among people with high blood sugar, partly by stimulating the production of calprotectin, a protein that sparks an inflammatory process that fuels the buildup of artery-clogging plaque.
Scientists ID Tumor Protein
May 8, 2013 9:56 am | News | CommentsScientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease, a development that may give clinicians a therapeutic target to treat this potentially life-threatening disorder.
Breast Cancer Resistance Mechanism Found
May 8, 2013 9:47 am | News | CommentsA seven-year quest to understand how breast cancer cells resist treatment with the targeted therapy lapatinib has revealed a previously unknown molecular network that regulates cell death. The discovery provides new avenues to overcome drug resistance.
