November 2012- Volume 8, Issue 11
November 2012
In this Issue
Government Watch
Meningitis outbreak plagues pharma industry
Meningitis outbreak plagues pharma industry
Regulators want more oversight of compounding pharmacies and regulation parity with drug manufacturers
A third way for India
A third way for India
Supreme Court of India sets deadline for government to present national pharmaceutical pricing policy
The great debate, 21st century-style
The great debate, 21st century-style
Presidential Commission for Study of Bioethical Issues tackles privacy issues in whole-genome sequencing
Patent saga persists
Patent saga persists
ACLU and PUBPAT ask Supreme Court to disallow Myriad patents on breast cancer genes
Research & Development
Matchmaking in the Midwest
Matchmaking in the Midwest
BioSante and ANI Pharmaceutical merge in all-stock deal
Immunological inhibitor
Immunological inhibitor
Astellas enters into license agreement with Janssen for RA therapy
MJFF invests $5 million in Vandy-BMS Parkinson’s collaboration
MJFF invests $5 million in Vandy-BMS Parkinson’s collaboration
Research targets the neurotransmitter glutamate
A tremendous trio
A tremendous trio
CRI, Ludwig, MedImmune to test immunotherapy combinations for treatment of cancer
Life-science companies launch rare disease research competition
Life-science companies launch rare disease research competition
Assay Depot and Rare Genomics Institute announced Oct. 15 that they have partnered with 19 life-science companies to launch the first Rare Disease Science Challenge
All for one, one for all
All for one, one for all
Ten leading pharmas form nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating clinical trial bottlenecks
Omics & Systems Biology
Innovation, visibility and survival
Innovation, visibility and survival
Complete Genomics and BGI-Shenzhen announce merger agreement
Of a giant and a gnome
Of a giant and a gnome
Illumina acquires BlueGnome, a provider of cytogenetics and in-vitro fertilization screening solutions
Preparing to launch personalized medicine
Preparing to launch personalized medicine
Air Force longitudinal study aims to prepare healthcare providers for a world rife with personal genomic information
HR-TOFMS for the metabolome
HR-TOFMS for the metabolome
LECO and Berkeley Lab partner on metabolomics research
Toward early dementia intervention
Toward early dementia intervention
Janssen-funded public-private partnership compares Down Syndrome to Alzheimer’s disease
Feature
Discovery, ho!
Discovery, ho!
American Society for Cell Biology forges path to more strongly connect basic sciences and drug discovery
Tools & Technology
Keeping methyltransferases simple
Keeping methyltransferases simple
BellBrook Labs and Reaction Biology collaborate on screening of methyltransferases for epigenetic drug discovery
Life Technologies acquires Compendia Bioscience
Life Technologies acquires Compendia Bioscience
Bioinformatics expertise completes foundation of Life Technologies’ oncology strategy
A new view for Bruker
A new view for Bruker
Bruker to acquire Carestream’s preclinical in-vivo imaging business
REFS for a different kind of judgment call
REFS for a different kind of judgment call
GNS Healthcare, Covance to create computer models to predict drug development success
Special Reports
Signals in the noise (Part 1 of 2)
Signals in the noise (Part 1 of 2)
Informatics challenges hinder progress in personalized medicine development
Signals in the noise (Part 2 of 2)
Signals in the noise (Part 2 of 2)
Informatics challenges hinder progress in personalized medicine development
Global News
Takeda goes viral
Takeda goes viral
Takeda buys LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals for $60 million cash, adds norovirus vaccine to global pipeline
Generating growth with Genfar
Generating growth with Genfar
Acquisition of Colombia-based company expands Sanofi’s Latin American presence, boosts animal health portfolio
Making renal disease a top priority
Making renal disease a top priority
AstraZeneca to pay as much as $272.5 million plus royalties for license to Ardelyx’s NHE3 inhibitor program
Nanobodies for voltage-gated ion channels
Nanobodies for voltage-gated ion channels
Ablynx and Merck to develop therapeutic nanobody candidates in potential half-billion-dollar deal
A match made in MDS
A match made in MDS
Baxter, Onconova to partner on anti-cancer compound for MDS, pancreatic cancer
Diagnostics
Narrowing in on NuroPro
Narrowing in on NuroPro
Amarantus, RBCC to focus on Parkinson’s diagnostic in joint venture
Two new partners for Life
Two new partners for Life
Life Technologies to partner with Bristol-Myers Squibb and CollabRx for companion diagnostics development
PROOF, MRM Proteomics turn the peptides
PROOF, MRM Proteomics turn the peptides
Protein signatures could become companion diagnostics to optimize drug discovery and patient care management
A diagnostic boost to therapeutic success
A diagnostic boost to therapeutic success
ImaginAb and Lundbeck to collaborate in neurodegeneration deal revolving around central nervous system imaging with biologics
Commentary
Changing dynamics in the pharma and biotech industries
Changing dynamics in the pharma and biotech industries
Reorganization, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), consolidation and portfolio changes are being evaluated to maintain growth centers in the face of a myriad of serious challenges. Overall, companies are looking to align with areas of growth opportunity as well as new business strategy and product development paradigms.
I’m not sure about this, but …
I’m not sure about this, but …
Personalized medicine is intended to add several layers of information into the treatment decision to make it more likely that a patient will perform as desired during treatment or perhaps more accurately, that we’ll know how a patient will perform during treatment. But personalized medicine is an incredible uphill battle, as many companies and organizations have seen over the last decade.
Editor's Focus
Pharma industry awaits impact of Obama’s second term
Pharma industry awaits impact of Obama’s second term
Now that the American people have spoken—with about 120 million votes estimated to have been cast as we went to press with this issue—and reelected President Barack Obama to a second term, many of you may be asking, “How will this affect pharma?”
