Tag: pharmaceuticals
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AstraZeneca, Lilly Begin Alzheimer’s Drug Trial
1 December 2014. The pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and Company began enrolling patients in a clinical trial testing an experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The intermediate and late-stage trial aims to recruit some 1,550 patients in 15 countries to test safety and effectiveness of the drug code-named AZD3293 against a placebo with patients…
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Genome Editing Company Licenses University Technologies
1 December 2014. Editas Medicine, a Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up, licensed technologies developed by the company’s scientific founders and others that allow for editing the human genome to create new therapies. Financial terms of the exclusive licensing deals with Harvard University, MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Duke University were not disclosed. Editas Medicine, founded in 2013,…
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Type 2 Diabetes Technology Licensed in $1 Billion Deal
12 November 2014. Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., developing a drug and delivery mechanism to treat type 2 diabetes, licensed its technology to the pharmaceutical company Servier in a deal with a potential value of $1 billion. The agreement gives Servier exclusive rights to Intarcia’s diabetes treatment technology to regions outside of the U.S. and Japan. Intarcia’s…
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Trial Shows Engineered Antibody Relieves Psoriasis
11 November 2014. A late-stage clinical trial shows a monoclonal antibody, a type of engineered biological therapy, cleared more people of the skin condition plaque psoriasis than a placebo or a competitive treatment. The biologic drug, brodalumab, is developed by the biotechnology company Amgen and pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca. Plaque psoriasis is the most common type…
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Biosimilars Developer Lands $85 Million in IPO
7 November 2014. Coherus BioSciences Inc., a company developing medications comparable to brand-name biologic therapies, raised $85 million yesterday in its initial public stock offering. The Redwood City, California company trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol CHRS. Coherus valued its 6,296,300 initial shares at $13.50. The stock opened today at $12.74 a share,…
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Bone Drugs Found as Possible Breast Cancer Therapy
6 November 2014. Medical researchers at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, Australia found common drugs to treat bone loss could treat breast and other other tumors outside the skeleton. The team led by Garvan research fellow Mike Rogers, with colleagues in Scotland and the U.S., published its findings online in the journal Cancer Discovery (paid…
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Trial Shows Weight Loss Drug Can Help Stop Smoking
3 November 2014. First results from an intermediate-stage clinical trial shows lorcaserin HCl, a drug approved to help people lose weight, also helps regular smokers stop smoking. The findings were reported today by Eisai Inc. and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., who offer lorcaserin HCl under the brand name Belviq. The companies say more results will be reported at…
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Gates Foundation Funds Malaria Vaccine Development
3 November 2014. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is awarding $156 million for a new type of malaria vaccine that prevents infection and transmission of the disease. Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, announced the grant to the Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative yesterday during keynote remarks at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s…
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Natural Product Can Boost Animal Immune Health
31 October 2014. Tests by Avivagen Inc. show an ability of beta-carotene to spontaneously oxidize that offers a natural alternative to antibiotics added to livestock feed to reduce illness and gain weight. The researchers from Avivagen, an animal health products company in Ottawa, Canada and National Research Council of Canada published their findings in today’s…
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Ebola-Marburg Vaccine Development, Testing Contract Awarded
31 October 2014. A biodefense unit of the U.S. Department of Defense awarded a contract to vaccine maker Profectus BioSciences Inc. for development and testing of a vaccine protecting against the two major Ebola strains and related Marburg viruses. The $9.5 million contract with the Baltimore company came from DoD’s Medical Countermeasure Systems-Joint Vaccine Acquisition…