October 2011- Volume 7, Issue 10
October 2011
In this Issue
Research & Development
Acquisition is par for the course
Acquisition is par for the course
Par Pharmaceutical acquires rival Anchen Pharmaceuticals for $410 million
Stem cell breakthroughs within Cyte?
Stem cell breakthroughs within Cyte?
BioTime’s ReCyte and OncoCyte subsidiaries ink pact with Cornell on vascular cells derived from hESCs
Stem cells offer new hope for MS patients
Stem cells offer new hope for MS patients
Cleveland-based research team use the mesenchymal stem cells of MS patients to treat the debilitating disease
Specificity counts in Merck deal
Specificity counts in Merck deal
Zymeworks Inc. to collaborate with Merck on developing bi-specific antibody Therapeutics
Digging in the dirt
Digging in the dirt
Researchers at the universities of Nottingham and Maastricht make headway in the use of the bacteria strain Clostridia as a way to safely and effectively deliver drugs to tumor sites
Omics & Systems Biology
Lessons in lifestyle and lipids
Lessons in lifestyle and lipids
Shimadzu and the University of Tokyo to develop lipidomics technology for biomarker discovery
On the hunt for genetic clues
On the hunt for genetic clues
HudsonAlpha Institute, U of Michigan search for genetic links to bipolar disorder
Not just an expression
Not just an expression
Clavis, Skyline team up on biomarkers for AML drug
Think about the orphans
Think about the orphans
Synageva BioPharma enters R&D partnership with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma to develop protein therapeutic for orphan disease target
PTH at picograms
PTH at picograms
Thermo Fisher Scientific acquires Intrinsic Bioprobes to enhance workflow for biomarker research and diagnostics
Contract Services
Building on a strong foundation
Building on a strong foundation
ICON selected as a preferred provider for early-phase clinical development by Bristol-Myers Squibb
Blueprint for neurotherapeutics
Blueprint for neurotherapeutics
AMRI wins five-year, $43 million federal contract award
Build it and they will come
Build it and they will come
Start-up research institute forms strategic alliance with LabCorp Clinical Trials to offer specialized biomarker and assay development services
Advantar partners with DavosPharma
Advantar partners with DavosPharma
Companies collaborating to broaden service offerings for U.S. clients
Feature
The big brains
The big brains
Society for Neuroscience brings a wide range of perspectives to the nation's capital with Neuroscience 2011
Blue and red plate specials
Blue and red plate specials
Regardless of where you lie on the political or ideological spectrum, D.C. offers plenty of culinary choices
Such sights to see
Such sights to see
You know about the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the rest, but here are some lesser-hyped places
Commentary
Multi-parameter optimization: The delicate balancing act of drug discovery
Multi-parameter optimization: The delicate balancing act of drug discovery
Dealing with complex, multi-parameter data with high uncertainty is an enormous challenge. One must consider the overall balance of properties as early as possible in the process to focus on chemistries with the best chance of quick progress and downstream success.
Taxes, innovation and life science jobs
Taxes, innovation and life science jobs
It's time to stop defining the problem and start defining solutions.
Editor's Focus
Announcing the ddn Cancer Research Portal: Your gateway to the latest oncology news, trends and resources
Announcing the ddn Cancer Research Portal: Your gateway to the latest oncology news, trends and resources
Cancer research dominates nearly every section of our newspaper and other news vehicles. That’s why we decided to launch our latest news division, the ddn Cancer Research Portal, your gateway to the latest oncology news, trends and resources.
Global News
Small but mighty
Small but mighty
Ascenta Therapeutics licenses experimental small-molecule cancer drug candidate to Debiopharm
Lilliputian meets Brobdingnagian
Lilliputian meets Brobdingnagian
Astellas Pharma signs a license agreement with Evec for a fully human antibody
U.K. union has great chemistry
U.K. union has great chemistry
Cresset, Redx Pharma to collaborate on drug discovery for a wide range of therapeutic areas
Taking aim at Alzheimer’s
Taking aim at Alzheimer’s
Evotec, Roche to partner on development of Alzheimer’s treatment
An affinity for Graffinity
An affinity for Graffinity
NovAliX and Galapagos collaborate in osteoarthritis discovery research program
Diagnostics
Billion-dollar boost
Billion-dollar boost
GE's health business unit earmarks $1 billion for cancer diagnostics and molecular imaging
Queue up with QIAGEN
Queue up with QIAGEN
QIAGEN announces companion Dx partnerships with Pfizer, Lilly
Colorectal cancer compatriots
Colorectal cancer compatriots
Arizona State and China's Sun Yat-sen University to develop early diagnostics against colorectal cancer
Together again against prostate cancer
Together again against prostate cancer
Genomatix and Uniformed Service University build on previous work to seek prognostic genetic markers through next-gen sequencing
Irish blessing
Irish blessing
Queen\'s University of Belfast and Almac agree to work on cancer tests
TrovaGene licenses Hairy Cell Leukemia assay
TrovaGene licenses Hairy Cell Leukemia assay
TrovaGene Inc., a developer of transrenal molecular diagnostics to facilitate personalized medicine, has signed a worldwide exclusive license for an assay that detects Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL).
Instruments & Informatics
Looking beyond imaging and detection
Looking beyond imaging and detection
PerkinElmer acquires Caliper Life Sciences for approximately $600 million, with eye toward expansion into preclinical work and companion Dx
Going with the flow
Going with the flow
EMD Millipore acquires cell-imaging instrument maker Amnis
Broadway boogie-woogie
Broadway boogie-woogie
NuGEN will partner with Advanced Liquid Logic to co-develop Mondrian-like microfluidic sample preparation automation
On a kidney quest
On a kidney quest
Critical Path Institute’s collaboration with Pharsight explores new model in battle against kidney disease
Sweet deal for Agilent in Asia
Sweet deal for Agilent in Asia
Agilent Technologies and Chungnam National University team up to push glycomics research forward
Aridhia, Glencoe Software create data analysis products
Aridhia, Glencoe Software create data analysis products
Aridhia Informatics Ltd., a multidisciplinary health informatics company, recently partnered with Glencoe Software to create products to aid the development of personalized therapies and deliver improved patient outcomes.
