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UK specialty drugmaker Sinclair IS Pharma (AIM: SPH.L) says it has disposed of the epilepsy drug Mysoline (primidone), for a total cash consideration of 11.1 million ($17.8 million) to Laboratoires SERB SAS, the current distributor of the product in France. The disposal is in-line with the board's strategy to dispose of non-strategic assets in order to focus on the company's core portfolio of dermatology, wound care and hospital supportive care products. Completion will take place within seven days. 15 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
US biotech firm Genzyme, a subsidiary of French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) says that the Phase lll CARE-MS ll trial with its multiple sclerosis drug candidate Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) met both of its co-primary endpoints. 15 November 2011
Generics
There was an active day for US generics drugmaker Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI), first, confirming that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, had filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the US Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to market rivastigmine transdermal system patches, 4.6mg/24hr and 9.5mg/24hr, a generic version of Swiss major Novartis' Exelon Patch, which is used to treat people with mild to moderate dementia associated with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. 13 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
The neuropathic pain drug market will experience modest growth over the next decade, increasing from $5.6 billion in 2010 to $8.4 billion in 2020 in the key seven global markets (the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan), according to a new report from advisory firm Decision Resources. 13 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) hosted an upbeat R&D and Business Briefing yesterday, where it announced an 11% increase to $0.42 in its quarterly dividend payment, the first time in seven years and seeing the firm's shares rise 3.5% to $34.97, compared with a 1% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. 11 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
Danish CNS drug specialist Lundbeck A/S (LUND: DC) and Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4768) have entered into an agreement for the development and commercialization of up to five innovative psychiatric and neuroscience products worldwide. 11 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and Targacept (Nasdaq: TRGT) yesterday reported disappointing results of the investigational antidepressant TC-5214, causing a 3.2% fall to 28.73 in the shares of the London-headquartered firm and a 60% plunge to $7.61 for Targacept by close of trading. 9 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
Danish CNS drug specialist Lundbeck (LUND: DC) has reported a strong set of financial results for the third quarter of 2011, with revenue rising 10% to of 3.98 billion Danish kroner ($734.9 million) compared to the same quarter last year. The growth was driven by increasing revenue from key products and a milestone payment related to the launch of escitalopram in Japan, noted the company, whose shares moved up 3.1% to 107.20 kroner in early trading this morning, as the figure beat analysts' expectation of 3.82 billion kroner. 9 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
The anti-inflammatory therapeutics market accounted for $32.3 billion in 2002 from its seven major indications. From 2002, the market grew at a rate of 7.6% to $57.8 billion in 2010, and is forecast to grow at a rate of 5.8% during the forecast period, to produce revenues of $85.9 billion in 2017, according to forecasts from business intelligence group GBI Research. 6 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
French drugmaker Ipsen (Euronext: IPN) today has sold its North American development and marketing rights for Apokyn (apomorphine) indicated in the USA for the acute, intermittent treatment of hypomobility 'off' episodes associated with advanced Parkinson's disease to UK-based Britannia Pharmaceuticals, now part of Germany's STADA Arzneimittel. 3 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
New Jersey, USA-based Pacira Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PCRX) and UK drugmaker SkyePharma (LSE: SKP) both saw their shares prices rocket, after revealing that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved Exparel (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) for administration into the surgical site to produce postsurgical analgesia. It is expected that Exparel may limit the use of opioids in post-operative setting. 2 November 2011
Biotechnology
South Korean biotech firm SK biopharmaceuticals says it has entered into an R&D agreement with Medicilon, a drug development company based in Shanghai, China, for the latter's novel new small molecule SKL-PSY that is being developed for the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed. 2 November 2011
Pharmaceutical
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals (SEPR: US) has announced results from a 12-month, double-blind extension study comparing drug Latuda (lurasidone HCl) to AstraZeneca's Seroquel XR (quetiapine) in adult patients with schizophrenia. The results of the extension study demonstrated Latuda, which was approved for schizophrenia treatment by the US Food and Drug Administration in October 2010, to be non-inferior to Seroquel XR in risk for relapse. 30 October 2011
Biotechnology
Following the September 2010 US launch, Swiss drug major Novartis' (NOVN: VX) first-in-class, once-daily oral multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod) has captured around a 5% share (first-line treatments) via patient switching from injectables (about 40% from Copaxone; glatiramer acetate from Teva) and market expansion, which is no longer supported by Copaxone or interferons, says Nomura European pharmaceuticals analyst Amit Roy in a client note issued on Monday. 24 October 2011
Generics
The European Commission revealed last Friday that it has opened an antitrust investigation, on its own initiative, to assess whether contractual arrangements between US drug major Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and the generic branches of the Switzerland-based Novartis (NOVN: VX) may have had the object or effect of hindering the entry on to the market of generic versions of the chronic pain drug fentanyl in the Netherlands. 24 October 2011
Biotechnology
As part of the ongoing review and re-prioritization of its R&D pipeline, biotech firm Merck Serono, a unit of Germany's Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), has decided to return all rights for safinamide to Switzerland-based Newron Pharmaceuticals (SIX: NWRN). 24 October 2011
Biotechnology
US biotech firm Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) saw its shares jump 6% to $107.53 last Friday, after the company released much anticipated results from a Phase III clinical trials of its oral multiple sclerosis drug candidate BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate) at the 5th Joint Triennial Congress of the European and Americas Committees on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS and ACTRIMS) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 24 October 2011
Pharmaceutical
The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has clarified its opinion on pioglitazone-containing anti-diabetes medicines and the risk of bladder cancer. The Committee confirmed its previous opinion, introducing some clarifications for transparency and consistency purposes: pioglitazone remains a valid treatment option for certain patients with type 2 diabetes, when certain other treatments (metformin) have not been suitable or have failed to work adequately. The new warnings and contraindications recommended in July 2011 remain in place. 24 October 2011
Generics
Over the next decade, the Parkinson's disease (PD) drug market in the leading countries (USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan) will be constrained by generic competition to key therapies, according to a new report from advisory firm Decision Resources. 23 October 2011
Biotechnology
US biotech firm ImmunoGen (Nasdaq: IMGN) says that SAR3419 has started Phase II testing, which triggers a $3 million milestone payment from French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) as part of a broader collaboration between the companies. 21 October 2011
Biotechnology
Cassava Sciences, a US biotech developing a novel, investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, was trading 83% lower at midday on Thursday. 25 November 2024
Biotechnology
A patient in Neurogene’s ongoing Phase I/II trial for Rett syndrome—who was dosed on November 5 with 3E15 vg of NGN-401—has now died from a treatment-related serious adverse event (SAE). 25 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has announced a major strategic shift, prioritizing its late-stage pipeline following a rejection by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 25 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Japanese mid-size drugmaker Otsuka Pharmaceutical announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals for rights to manufacture and market Ionis' ulefnersen (ION363), a drug candidate under development for the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutation of the fused in sarcoma (FUS) gene. 23 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Japanese drugmaker Eisai has announced that the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment Rozebalamin for Injection (mecobalamin) has been launched in Japan as a treatment for slowing progression of functional impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Germany's Merck has spent more than 25 years researching and developing solutions for advancing multiple sclerosis (MS) care. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Swiss pharma giant Novartis today announced an upgrade to its mid-term guidance, in advance of its Meet Novartis Management event for investors and analysts in London. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Sage Therapeutics will down tools on its dalzanemdor program, after the Phase II DIMENSION trial missed both primary and secondary endpoints. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
New York-based Mind Medicine, a company developing MM120, a form of LSD (lysergide d-tartrate), for mental health conditions, has announced the appointment of Gregg Pratt, as chief regulatory and quality assurance officer. 19 November 2024
Biotechnology
Last week saw US pharma major AbbVie release disappointing Phase II trial results on its emraclidine in schizophrenia, which benefited Bristol Myers Squibb. Also on the research front, Germany’s Merck KGaA and Abbisko’s pimicotinib showed positive results in tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT). M&A news saw German BioNTech punting $800 million upfront to acquire China based oncology focused Biotheus. Also of note, US drugmaker Halozyme Therapeutics made an unsolicited takeover bid for Evotec, valuing the German firm, at around 2 billion euros. 17 November 2024
Biotechnology
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) made a number of recommendations at its November meeting, notable among which was a reversal of a previous rejection of Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab). 15 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Germany’s Merck KGaA was trading 5% lower as Thursday’s trading day neared its end, after the company announced its third-quarter financial results and outlook for the rest of the year. 14 November 2024
Biotechnology
Swiss clinical-stage biopharma AC Immune saw its shares gain 8% to $3.38 in US trading this morning, after it released positive interim safety and immunogenicity data from the Phase II VacSYn clinical trial evaluating ACI-7104.056. 14 November 2024
Biotechnology
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval of PTC Therapeutics’ gene therapy for the treatment of AADC (aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase) deficiency, making it the first-ever gene therapy approved in the USA that is directly administered to the brain. 14 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Digital therapeutics company GAIA has announced the signing of a licensing agreement for attexis with fellow German firm MEDICE Arzneimittel Pütter. 14 November 2024
Biotechnology
Cambridge, USA-based Vesalius Therapeutics has entered into a multi-target strategic alliance with the UK’s GSK to discover and develop novel treatments for Parkinson's disease, and another undisclosed neurodegenerative indication. 13 November 2024
Biotechnology
Neurogene has announced positive interim clinical data in the first four participants in the low-dose cohort of its ongoing Phase I/II open-label trial designed to evaluate NGN-401 gene therapy for the treatment of female pediatric patients with Rett syndrome. 13 November 2024
Biotechnology
Trace Neuroscience, a newly launched biopharma based in San Francisco, aims to advance treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 12 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
US drugmaker AbbVie was trading more than 11% lower early on Monday afternoon in New York. 11 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Parkinson’s disease (PD) therapeutic landscape is heavily genericized, leaving substantial unmet needs in neuroprotective and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), says data and analytics company GlobalData in an overview of ongoing PD research.. 11 November 2024
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