Tag: pharmaceuticals
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Research Aims to Standardize, Improve Medication Labels
A study by Northwestern University’s medical school in Chicago will test new methods for physicians to write prescriptions and pharmacists to interpret those instructions for labels on drug containers. The pharmaceutical company Merck is funding the project, with participation from the drug store chain Walgreens and Alliance of Chicago community health centers. Previous research at…
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Biotech Company to Go Public in $86 Million IPO
GlycoMimetics Inc., a biotechnology company in Gaithersburg, Maryland, filed its registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of common stock. Fortune Magazine’s Term Sheet page reports the company aims to raise $86.25 million through the IPO, and trade on the Nasdaq exchange under ticker symbol GLYC. GlycoMimetics…
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Early Clinical Trial Shows RNA Therapy Lowers Cholesterol
A clinical trial by the biopharmaceutical company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts shows that one dose of a drug made from interfering ribonucleic acid (RNA) cuts LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels more than a placebo. Results of the study, conducted with colleagues from University of Texas-Southwestern in Dallas and medical centers in the U.K., appear…
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Pfizer Licenses University Institute’s Obesity Research
The global pharmaceutical company Pfizer is funding research at Université de Montréal in Quebec, Canada to identify cellular pathways in genetic defects leading to therapies for early-onset morbid obesity. Financial aspects of the collaboration, which gives Pfizer a license to commercially develop results of the research, were not disclosed. Pfizer is funding and licensing research…
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AbbVie, Galapagos Partner on Cystic Fibrosis Therapies
The pharmaceutical companies AbbVie in North Chicago, Illinois and Galapagos NV in Mechelen, Belgium are collaborating on development and marketing of treatments for the inherited disease cystic fibrosis. The deal, with a total potential value of at least $405 million, covers discovery, development, and commercialization of compounds addressing defective genetic mutations associated with the disease.…
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Trial Tests Chemo-Immunotherapy with Pancreatic Cancer
An early-stage clinical trial found a combination of chemotherapy and antibody protein caused some patients with pancreatic cancer to shrink their tumors. The findings of a study by researchers at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and University of Washington in Seattle appear online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research (paid subscription required). Cancer of the…
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Clinical Trial to Test Engineered Enzyme with Kidney Failure
AM-Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company in Bunnik, the Netherlands, began recruiting volunteers to test an engineered form of the human enzyme alkaline phosphatase to treat acute kidney injury. The clinical trial will test the safety and tolerability of the human recombinant alkaline phosphatase as well as its enzyme-chemical activity in blood serum, an indicator of treatment…
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Investment Fund to Finance Global Health Technologies
A consortium of private sector, foundation, and government partners formed the Global Health Investment Fund, to finance higher-risk, late-stage development of vaccines and other public health innovations in low-income countries. The fund is led by the bank JPMorgan Chase and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with contributions from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the…
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Challenge Seeks Commercialization of Breast Cancer Advances
A new challenge sponsored by the Avon Foundation for Women, with National Cancer Institute and Center for Advancing Innovation, aims to accelerate commercialization of unlicensed research discoveries related to breast cancer. In the Breast Cancer Start-up Challenge, Avon Foundation will award $250,000 to teams starting new companies that combine lab discoveries with solid business plans…
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Biotech Financing Up, Licensing Down in First Half of 2013
The biotechnology industry experienced healthy growth in venture financing and valuations in the first half of 2013, but licensing deals — a prime source of biotech revenue — were flat during the period, pointing to limits on the industry’s growth potential. This accounting of biotech industry financial activity is described in a report from Evaluate…