R&D Trends

BMS discontinues development of BMS-986094 for hepatitis C

Friday, August 24, 2012 02:45 PM

Bristol-Myers Squibb has discontinued development of BMS-986094 (formerly known as INX-189), a nucleotide polymerase (NS5B) inhibitor that was in phase II development for the treatment of hepatitis C. This decision was made in the interest of patient safety, based on a rapid, thorough and ongoing assessment of patients in a phase II study the company voluntarily suspended Aug. 1, 2012. The FDA subsequently placed the compound on clinical hold.

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Canary Foundation receives $8.5M to advance cancer early detection studies

Thursday, August 23, 2012 09:28 AM

Canary Foundation, a cancer-focused non-profit based in Palo Alto, Calif., has received two contributions totaling $8.5 million to advance Canary’s goal of developing cancer early detection diagnostic tools.

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Study confirms economic viability of orphan drugs positioned for unmet medical needs

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 12:35 PM

Orphan drugs, developed to treat rare diseases, have the potential to generate as much lifetime revenue as drugs used for more common health conditions, according to a study by Thomson Reuters’ intellectual property and science business.

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Penn State awarded $1M to fund cancer-fighting technology research

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 09:31 AM

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Thirty teams compete to interpret three families' genomes

Monday, August 20, 2012 12:08 PM

In a contest led by Boston Children's Hospital, 30 teams from around the world are vying to interpret the DNA sequences of three children with rare conditions whose cause remains a mystery—with the goal of establishing "best practices" for interpreting genomic data.

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PatientsLikeMe, Merck collaborate on evaluating psoriasis impact

Friday, August 17, 2012 09:23 AM

PatientsLikeMe, a social networking health site, has entered into a collaboration with global pharmaceutical company Merck to evaluate the impact of psoriasis on patients and to inform a novel approach to improving outcomes.

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ADi awarded $2.5M SBIR grant to identify malaria protection biomarkers

Monday, August 13, 2012 10:13 AM

Antigen Discovery (ADi), a biotech based in Irvine, Calif., has received a phase II Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

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CDC grants $4.1M to WVU for injury control research

Friday, August 10, 2012 12:41 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded the West Virginia University Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) a five-year grant totaling $4.1 million to continue as one of 11 such federally funded centers of excellence for injury prevention research, education and outreach in the nation.

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ALS Association announces $4M in research grants for Lou Gehrig's disease

Friday, August 10, 2012 11:43 AM

The ALS Association has awarded $4 million in research grants to researchers in 31 laboratories across the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Germany and Canada to find treatments and a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS)

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Galenea, CHDI Foundation expand Huntington's disease collaboration

Friday, August 10, 2012 10:20 AM

Galenea, a Cambridge, Mass.-based company focused on synaptic transmission drug discovery, and CHDI Foundation, a not-for-profit, biomedical research organization focused on Huntington’s disease (HD), have extended and expanded their collaboration to further characterize the synaptic dysfunction apparent in HD utilizing Galenea’s proprietary platform.

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