August 2012 Volume 8, Issue 8
Volume 8, Issue 8 | August 2012
August 2012
In this Issue
Research & Development

Surprising and sizable injection
BMS-AstraZeneca diabetes partnership gets $7- billion boost with BMS’ acquisition of Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Collaboration targets complications
Sanofi, Joslin Diabetes Center to develop new medicines to treat diabetes and related disorders
CoMMpass to multiple myeloma treatment
MMRF and US Oncology Research collaborate on landmark clinical study to advance personalized treatments for incurable blood cancer
A cognitive collaboration
Roche, Seaside Therapeutics form alliance to discover, develop new drugs for fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorders
A bioscaffold for heart disease repair
ADAPT technology could augment tissue repair in heartGlobal News

Valeant all smiles over OraPharma
Valeant acquires oral health company for $312 million
Of warheads and wellness
Cancer Research Technology and ADC Therapeutics join forces on antibody-drug conjugates
Tackling the TB epidemic
AstraZeneca, Cellworks and Wellcome Trust team up to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis
An acquisition with some heart
Janssen-Cilag acquires CorImmun, gains heart failure drug
MCPs for COPD and asthma
Prosonix and the Imperial College London partner on engineered multi-component particles for respiratory medicines
GSK finalizes Human Genome Sciences acquisition for $14.25 per share in cash
The transaction values HGS at approximately $3.6 billion on an equity basis, or approximately $3 billion net of cash and debtOmics & Systems Biology

Hiding in plain sight
Researchers working on both sides of the Atlantic describe new influenza gene hidden among the known ones
Discovery on demand
Merck Serono, Compugen launch company to develop predictive drug toxicity tests
Zebrafish turn the tide in autism research
MIT researchers turn to fish models to uncover secrets of autism
Cold Spring Harbor Lab, Pfizer partner on cancer therapy research
Collaborators aim to create next-generation short-hairpin RNA library
Hit-to-lead
CellCentric and ZoBio enter into partnership to develop lead compounds against epigenetic drug targetsTools & Technology

The life science DREAM team
Seventh-annual Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods (DREAM) challenge seeks informatics solutions to support translational medicine
Tegal acquires CollabRx
Deal brings interpretive content and data analytics to genomics-based medicine
Eyes on the Ion
Life Technologies and Boston Children's Hospital to develop optimized lab workflow based on Ion Proton Sequencer
Stepping up to the platform
NCKU, Fujitsu ink MOU to build genomics platform
KREATECH Diagnostics, ORIDIS Biomarkers go FISH
Companies to develop state-of-the-art REPEAT-FREE DNA-FISH assays for the oncology field
QIAGEN to create NGS portfolio for clinical research, MDx
QIAGEN NV recently unveiled an initiative to enter the field of next-generation sequencing (NGS)Special Reports

SPECIAL REPORT: Regenerating interest in stem cell medicine (PART 1)
Stem cell technologies still hold potential to replace organs and tissues, but initial hype has been toned down
SPECIAL REPORT: Regenerating interest in stem cell medicine (PART 2)
Stem cell technologies still hold potential to replace organs and tissues, but initial hype has been toned downCommentary

The promise of cell therapies in treating chronic diseases
With the introduction of adult stem cell therapies, we are now seeing new promise in the management and even treatment of chronic disease.
August is back-to-school month
We’ve followed the science education debate for years, but jumping into the fray has caused us to think in new ways.Editor's Focus

Public misconceptions about stem cells throw a wrinkle into scientific progress
The great divide between actual science and general public perception—complicated by political controversy and ethical debate—has only grown deeper with every breakthrough or achievement in the quest to use stem cells to regenerate or repair damaged tissue, skin and organs.Diagnostics

Going primetime with real-time PCR
Luminex acquires GenturaDx for $50 million
Custom-tailored therapy
Merrimack and Cancer Treatment Centers of America partner to advance translational research and individualized treatment
Breaking the Parkinson’s bottleneck
Berg Pharma partners with Parkinson’s Institute to identify biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease
Lilly, PrimeraDx break the ICE
Companies team up to develop companion diagnostics using PrimeraDx’s ICEPlex platformContract Services

Renaissance Pharma acquires DPT, a CDMO
Pharma drawn to DPT’s contract development and manufacturing capabilities
Solving the insoluble
Quotient Clinical and Capsugel will collaborate to accelerate early development and clinical evaluation for poorly soluble drugs
Control issues
Bend Research and Catalent partner to provide integrated solutions for oral controlled-release technologies
Global peptide partnership
Peptisyntha and Peptides International will collaborate to produce research-grade peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients

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