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December 2008 Volume 4, Issue 12

Volume 4, Issue 12 | December 2008

In this Issue

Research & Development

Pfizer goes regenerative

Company plans to pump as much as $100 million into new stem cell research unit

Making the best of a bad situation

GSK forgoes partnership, makes surprise acquisition offer for Genelabs Technologies

Neutralizing HIV

NCI researchers seek commercial partner after identifying first human domain antibody that potently inhibits HIV

Galapagos dumps San Diego facility

Belgian biotech consolidates service ops, sells San Diego ops to ChemVentures

Ovarian cancer gain

M.D. Anderson researchers find PEA-15 prolongs ovarian cancer survival

Genomics & Proteomics

Thermo, Genentech in siRNA pact

Companies to develop novel siRNA therapeutic technologies for indications of interest to Genentech

Lending a helping hand

Startup firm Cabernet offers pharmacogenetics consulting and nabs Lilly as first client

Clinical Data Inc. and Avalon Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced in late October that the companies entered into a definitive merger agreement for Clinical Data to acquire Avalon in a stock transaction valued at approximately $10 million.

Courting your genes

Four in five Americans support the idea of a nationwide study to investigate the interactions of genes, environment and lifestyle, and three in five say they would be willing to take part in such a study, according to a survey released recently by the Genetics & Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Ensemble, Roche Dx work heads for clinical trial arena

Ensemble Discovery Corp. recently extended a collaboration with Roche that will deploy Ensemble’s diagnostic assays in human clinical studies to analyze combinations of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) present in various cancer tissues.

Informatics

Straight to the heart

Aureus to build database platform for European consortium on drug cardiotoxicity

Tooting each other's horns

SAS, NCGR to integrate and co-market next-gen sequencing data analysis tools

Long-term relationship

Genedata expands research informatics partnership with Bayer Schering Pharma

Cancer biomarker catalog

Sophic wins grant to develop cancer biomarker database

Unclogging informatics workflows

Mayo Clinic, U of Minn. to create shared data analysis solution

GenoLogics to provide Pfizer with enterprise-wide informatics solutions

Translational research software firm GenoLogics Life Sciences Software Inc. announced Nov. 10 it signed a three-year, global agreement with Pfizer to provide informatics solutions to its research labs.

BioFocus DPI selects IDBS BioBook for ADME data management needs

Global informatics provider IDBS announced in early November that BioFocus DPI, the service division of Galapagos, will use IDBS BioBook to handle all of its ADME data management needs.

Global News

No pain, no gain

King finally lands Alpharma for $1.6 billion in a deal to strengthen its pain therapeutic portfolio

Finding profits in adult stem cells

Osiris inks adult stem cell therapeutic deal with Genzyme potentially worth $1.3 billion

Companies bonded by blood

Biogen Idec pays Genentech $31.5 million to join blood cancer drug development deal

United turns to Eli Lilly

United Therapeutics gets rights for tadalafil PAH indication, Lilly gets equity stake

Boosting the product line

Assay Designs enters strategic agreement with Abnova Corp.

Editor's Focus

Is pharma doing a good job of transforming?

So far, it seems the pressure to produce increased profits is winning in the battle to transform the industry. But I wonder if, with all the external pressures on large pharma, we might soon be reaching the breaking point.

Patent News

Is seven years enough for biologic data exclusivity?

As Congress is considering possible legislation to create an abbreviated pathway for the FDA to approve generic biologic therapies, differences in the R&D expense and product cost, and the potential for both new therapies post-approval and second-generation innovations, have raised questions about how to achieve the proper balance between innovation and competition.

Commentary

Biotech start-ups a bargain, or toast?

In a spate of recent articles, it would seem that the world has come to an end in terms of high-tech IPOs—not to mention venture backing of early-stage start-ups.

Automation & Instrumentation

Old mouse does new trick

Caliper becomes first commercial life sciences company to offer research services using DuPont’s OncoMouse

A move to mid-plex

Affymetrix seeks broader markets via $73 million acquisition of Panomics

Agilent, BioTrove forge VAR agreement

Expanding on their 2007 co-marketing agreement on the service side, BioTrove and Agilent last month signed a non-exclusive value-added reseller agreement to enable BioTrove to provide enhanced options for users of its RapidFire mass spectrometry sample preparation system for mass spectrometry-based drug discovery.

Q&A: Tim “TJ” Johnson, CEO, High Throughput Genomics

High Throughput Genomics is young company, but one that has made an impact in the area of customized, high-throughput gene expression analysis. Its key technology is qNPA which allows for expression analysis without the need for RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis or RNA labeling or amplification. Last January, Tim “TJ” Johnson—ex of Ventana Medical Systems—took the helm of the company as CEO. TJ recently took time out of his schedule to chat with DDN Chief Editor Chris Anderson.

December 2008