Tag: pharmaceuticals
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Pfizer, Opko Partner on Growth Hormone Drug
16 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is licensing an engineered compound to treat human growth hormone deficiency in adults and children from Opko Health Inc., a provider of therapeutics and diagnostics. The deal has a potential value to Opko of $570 million, plus royalties from sales. Opko Health, based in Miami, offers drugs and…
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Nanomedicine Developer Secures $7.5M Venture Funds
15 December 2014. Cristal Therapeutics, a developer of medications formulated as nanoscale particles, raised more than €6 million ($7.5 million) in early-stage venture funds. The financing round for the company, based in Maastricht, The Netherlands, was led by Chemelot Ventures, with current seed investors Thuja Capital, BioGeneration Ventures, Nedermaas, Utrecht University Holding, and Beheer Innovatiefonds…
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Chikungunya Virus Antibody Isolated, Tested
10 December 2014. Researchers from biotechnology company Integral Molecular and Blood Systems Research Institute identified and tested with lab animals a human antibody that limits viral activity causing chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease spreading in the Western hemisphere. The team led by Integral Molecular CEO Benjamin Doranz published its findings in this month’s issue of Journal…
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Fewer Americans on Pain Meds, But in Risky Combinations
9 December 2014. A review of insurance claims from 2009 to 2013 shows fewer Americans taking opioid pain medications, but for longer periods than originally prescribed and in potentially dangerous combinations. Results of the review were released today in a report by the pharmacy-benefit management company Express Scripts in St. Louis, and authored by Lynne…
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Technique Devised for 3-D Immunotherapy Injections
9 December 2014. Biomedical engineers at Harvard University designed a biomaterial that in lab animals assembles into a three-dimensional framework for delivery of therapies triggering an immune response to treat cancer and infectious diseases. The team from the lab of David Mooney at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering published its findings yesterday in…
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Pfizer, Biotech Partner on Hemophilia B Gene Therapy
8 December 2014. Spark Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm in Philadelphia, is collaborating with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to commercialize Spark’s gene therapy technology as a treatment for hemophilia B. Spark Therapeutics can gain as much as $280 million in the deal that involves sharing worldwide rights to Spark’s technology for hemophilia B with Pfizer. Hemophilia…
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Merck Buys Antibiotic Maker in $9.5 Billion Deal
8 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Merck agreed today to acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a developer of antibiotics, in a deal valued at $9.5 billion. Under the agreement Merck will pay Cubist stockholders $102 a share in cash — the stock closed at about $74 a share on Friday — equaling $8.4 billion, as well as…
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Challenge Seeks Spinal Cord Solutions, Offers $50K Awards
5 December 2014. The Conquer Paralysis Now challenge is looking for new treatments for spinal cord injuries, as well as ideas to help patients with these injuries perform everyday functions that fully abled people can do unaided. The first round competition awards grants of $50,000 in six categories, with a deadline of 1 April 2015…
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Patent Awarded for Macular Degeneration Eyedrop Technology
4 December 2014. SciFluor Life Sciences LLC, a biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Massachusetts received a patent on a fluoride formulation for treating diseases of the retina with eyedrops rather than injections into the eye as often required. Patent 8,901,144 was awarded on 2 December by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to four inventors, including…
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Peptide Regenerates Muscles Damaged from Spinal Cord Injury
4 December 2014. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University developed a synthetic peptide that in lab animals restores some functions in muscles damaged from spinal cord injuries. The team from the lab of CWRU neuroscientist Jerry Silver in Cleveland, Ohio published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). National Institute of Neurological…