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February 2012 Volume 8, Issue 2

Volume 8, Issue 2 | February 2012

In this Issue

Research & Development

Seeking a rare and precious prize

Alexion to acquire Enobia and gain first potential treatment for patients with ultra- rare disease hypophosphatasia

BMS and Gladstone combat Alzheimer’s disease ‘tsunami’

Pharma funds research institute’s work on Tau dysfunction

Follow the leaders

Baxter, Momenta partner on follow-on biologics

Betting on biosimilars

Amgen and Watson announce collaboration to develop and commercialize oncology biosimilars

ADC from A to Z

ImmunoGen and Lilly in $200 million-plus deal for antibody drug conjugates

Sigma-Aldrich looks to buy BioReliance Corp. for $350 million in cash

With Sigma-Aldrich Corp. offering a purchase price of $350 million to be financed through a combination of cash on hand and credit facilities, BioReliance Corp., a provider of global biopharmaceutical testing services, has agreed to be acquired, with majority owner Avista Capital Partners giving the nod.

Omics & Systems Biology

Abbott and Reata AIM high

Companies explore potential of next-generation antioxidant inflammation modulators in multiple therapeutic areas

No inhibitions about drug discovery

Ipsen, Oncodesign to develop therapeutic agents that inhibit mutations that cause Parkinson’s disease

Arecor adds Lilly

Eli Lilly & Co. becomes latest partner to work with U.K. company on advanced formulations of protein therapeutics

(Anti)sense and sensibility

Biogen Idec, Isis ink agreement to target spinal muscular atrophy

Gene therapy at UCL, St. Jude’s infuses hemophiliacs with hope

Study offers hope for men born with disabling blood disorder

Global News

Pfizer, Karo Bio go nuclear

Collaboration to target RORgamma modulators for autoimmune therapies

A leg up for oncology

Takeda acquires Intellikine for $310 million, adding two novel programs to cancer pipeline

China experiences diabetes epidemic

Hua Medicine licenses new diabetes drug from Roche as China’s population grows ever larger

A trio of leads for a hopeful future

Collaboration between Compugen and BioLineRx begins with three peptides but could lead to much more

The role of CD40L in ALS

ALS Therapy Development Institute announces research agreement with Biogen Idec and UCB to investigate promising therapeutic approach

Contract Services

CROs form Asia Alliance

Five companies band together to enhance clinical research across continent

AZ pursues targeted cancer therapy

AstraZeneca pays $20 million to Chi-Med to co-develop and commercialize new cancer drug Volitinib

Getting to know the locals

New Quintiles CRO to offer services for China’s local trial market

Healthymagination alliance

GE Healthcare and M+W Group to help emerging nations manufacture their own essential biopharmaceuticals, reducing reliance on imports

Biologics down under

DSM Biologics, AIBN partner developing biologics facility in Queensland

Commentary

Pay for delay: Right or wrong?

With market pressures from generic drug manufacturers at an all-time high, firms have turned to what’s known as “pay for delay,” a stalling tactic employed by originator pharmaceutical manufacturers to maintain market share after a pharmaceutical patent has expired or has been found to be invalid in court.

Stuck between evidence and policy

Policy, like medical decisions, should be based on evidence, not magic. Evidence to support policy should not be selected from a menu; policy should be derived from evidence. In 2012, we need to get this right.

Editor's Focus

Leave Paula Deen alone, y’all

Have a seat and pass the mashed potatoes, y’all: It’s time for a chat about celebrity chef and Food Network television host Paula Deen and the brouhaha surrounding her recent announcement that she suffers from type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease whose primary cause is obesity.

Special Reports

A perfect match

Cancer companion diagnostics gain ground

Tools & Technology

Adding to Pall’s appeal

Pall Corp. acquires ForteBio via merger

Accelrys on a quest

California-based company acquires VelQuest Corp. for $35 million

Data warehouse for translational research

Long-term collaboration between Windber Research Institute and IDBS has implications for breast cancer research

A wish to advance ISH

Ventana and ACD to co-promote in-situ hybridization assay system that will be automated on Ventana’s DISCOVERY platforms

UCSD uses RainDance technology for solid-tumor detection

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) recently announced that it has published data that validates RainDance Technology Inc.’s approach for detecting low-prevalence somatic mutations in heterogeneous tumor samples.

February 2012