Tag: pharmaceuticals

  • Boehringer, Arena to Discover Neurological Drugs

    13 January 2016. Pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. are collaborating on discovery of new therapies for schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. The partnership could bring Arena, in San Diego, as much as $262 million. Arena Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for disorders related to G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, proteins…

  • Gates Funding RNA Treatment for HIV Infection

    12 January 2016. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is backing a biotechnology company’s early development of antibodies to treat human immunodeficiency virus or HIV based on RNA, nucleic acids expressed by a person’s genetic code. The foundation is supporting the work of Moderna Therapeutics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an initial $20 million grant, and…

  • Trials Show Safety, Benefit of Stem Cells to Treat ALS

    11 January 2016. Two clinical trials testing stem cells to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, found the treatments are safe for patients, and can slow progression of the disease. Results of the trials testing the stem cell product known as NurOwn made by BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics in Petach Tikvah, Israel  are reported today in…

  • Juno Acquires Biotech, Licenses Cell Sequencing Tech

    11 January 2016. Juno Therapeutics is gaining single-cell sequencing technology for cancer immunotherapies through the buy-out of biotechnology company AbVitro Inc., and licensing part of that technology to pharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. The AbVitro acquisition is valued at about $125 million, while financial details of the licensing deal with Celgene are not disclosed. Juno Therapeutics,…

  • Grünenthal Group to Commercialize Duchenne Therapy

    8 January 2015. Grünenthal Group, a German pharmaceutical company, is licensing a treatment candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy developed by Akashi Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company created by organizations advocating for research on the disease. While full financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, Grünenthal says it’s committing more than $100 million to the venture.…

  • Biotechs to Develop Antibody Therapies, Explore Merger

    8 January 2016. Two biotechnology companies in Vancouver agreed to collaborate on developing antibody treatments for cancer, with an option to merge their enterprises later on. The deal calls for Zymeworks Inc. to make an undisclosed equity investment in Kairos Therapeutics Inc. Zymeworks is also receiving $US 61.5 million in its first venture funding round.…

  • Rodin, Biogen Partner on Neurological Epigenetics

    6 January 2016. The biotechnology company Rodin Therapeutics is collaborating with Biogen, another biotech enterprise, in developing treatments based on epigenetics for neurological disorders. The agreement includes a $17.3 million equity investment in Rodin by Biogen and venture investor Atlas Venture, with an option for Biogen to acquire Rodin that provides further payments valued as…

  • Medical Industry Payment Recipients Identified

    5 January 2016. An analysis of industry payments to physicians shows cardiovascular specialists and neurosurgeons were the specialties most likely to receive payments from pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The findings appear in this month’s issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The research team from University of California in San Diego, led by radiation…

  • Trial Underway Testing Preterm Respiratory Treatment

    30 December 2015. A clinical trial testing new treatment methods for a common respiratory disorder faced by preterm babies began enrolling patients. The trial is testing an aerosol-delivered surfactant, a wetting agent applied to the lungs of babies born prematurely without natural surfactants to keep open air sacs in lungs, made by Discovery Laboratories a biotechnology…

  • Trial Shows Vaccine Protects Against Stem Cell Complications

    24 December 2015. An early-stage clinical trial indicates a vaccine protects against complications from stem cell transplants used to treat blood-related cancers. Results of the trial conducted by City of Hope medical center in Duarte, California that developed the vaccine appear online in the journal The Lancet Haematology (paid subscription required), and were discussed earlier…