Home / Archive / January 2009

January 2009 Volume 5, Issue 1

Volume 5, Issue 1 | January 2009

In this Issue

Global News

Aptamers aplenty for GSK

GSK inks aptamer deal focused on inflammatory disease that could net Archemix $1.4 billion

Endo offers $370 million for Indevus

Endo Pharmaceuticals announced earlier this month that it entered into a merger agreement with Indevus Pharmaceuticals for $4.50 per share or $370 million in cash.

Out on their own

Myriad Genetics will use cash on hand from molecular diagnostic success to give pharma spinoff its start

Malaria mates

Pfizer and Sigma-Tau to market a potential new treatment for malaria in Africa

Biocompatibles, AstraZeneca forge diabetes pact

Biocompatibles plc announced in late December it signed product development and option-to-license agreements with AstraZeneca for a proprietary GLP-1 analogue invented and developed by Biocompatibles’ CellMed subsidiary.

Celsion in ThermoDox license agreement with Yakult Honsha

Celsion Corp. and Tokyo-based Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd. announced last month definitive agreements relating to the commercialization of Celsion’s proprietary ThermoDox drug delivery platform for the Japanese market.

Genomics & Proteomics

Banking on biomarkers

Covance solidifies biomarker strategy, takes minority stake in Caprion

Filling in the gaps

Quintiles' acquisition of TMD rounds out its oncology service offerings

Mutually assured success

Harvard Catalyst and HTG team up on miRNA assays

All for one...

Trio of University of Wisconsin spinouts merge under CDI banner

PGxHealth embarks on Italian connection

Enters FCGR pathway collaboration with University Hospital of Parma

Compugen, Merck Serono tackle peptide for inflammation

Compugen Ltd. announced recently a collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, acting for its pharmaceutical division Merck Serono, which covers CGEN-855, a Compugen-discovered novel peptide targeting the FPRL1 G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR).

Informatics

Model patients, virtually

Entelos wraps up deal with FDA for the use of its PhysioLab simulation platform to assess cardiovascular risk

Slicing and dicing data

InforSense to provide translational research tools to British research center's mental health projects

Data delivery paradigm shift

Bio-Imaging partners with AG Mednet to send image data to clients via Web-accessible network

Connecting data points

CambridgeSoft and StatSoft seek to join enterprise-wide data management with data mining and analytics

Tuberculosis portal

Collaborative Drug Discovery receives Gates Foundation grant to develop TB drug discovery database

Optra Systems joins Microsoft Bio-IT Alliance

Life science and healthcare IT consulting company Optra Systems announced in December it has joined the Microsoft Bio-IT Alliance, an association of life science organizations and informatics companies whose focus is to enhance collaboration and accelerate the pace of drug discovery and development.

Research & Development

Targeting inflammation

Researchers test potential therapeutic target for inflammatory disease on rheumatoid arthritis

No bones about partnership

Galapagos and MorphoSys see synergies in bone and joint disease partnership

Stem cell patent partners

VistaGen-WARF agreement aims to grow use of human embryonic stem cells in drug development

Salk’s system seeks speedy ALS drug screening

Astrocyte finding may hold key to new ALS therapies

Parexel steps up stroke study services

Biopharma services provider’s pact with SITS expands access to stroke-focused clinical sites

Editor's Focus

My first New Year’s resolution

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I do see the very beginning of the year as a time to take a look back at what I have accomplished, look forward to the possibilities of a new year and remind myself of the things that are important in this life.

Commentary

Leadership is sharing the credit

There is an issue between students and professors that I've followed for a long time and been personally engaged in as a student, post-doc, professor and business leader. If a student/post-doc discovers something important using funding secured by the professor in an atmosphere provided by the professor, then how much credit should go to each?

Automation & Instrumentation

Joining separation technologies

Chiral Technologies broadens enantiomeric separations portfolio with acquisition of ChromTech Ltd.

Automation spin-off

NextGen divests automation arm to management-led eXeTek

Lab wiki

ALA launches LabAutopedia online automation reference guide

Abbott exercises Ibis option for $215M

Roughly seven months after making a second $20 million investment in Isis Pharmaceuticals subsidiary Ibis Biosciences, Abbott announced in December that it would exercise its option to buy the remaining 81.4 percent of the company for an additional $175 million, bringing the total enterprise price to $215 million.