R&D Trends

Investigational drugs chosen for major Alzheimer's prevention trial

Thursday, October 11, 2012 07:00 AM

Scientists have selected the first investigational drugs for a worldwide Alzheimer's disease prevention trial. The pioneering study, expected to start by early 2013, initially will test three promising drugs—gantenerumab, solanezumab and an unnamed BACE inhibitor—each designed to target Alzheimer's in different ways.

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Roche, Versant, Inception pursue novel treatments for sensorineural hearing loss

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 02:03 PM

Roche has entered into an exclusive partnership with Versant Ventures,  healthcare venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., and Inception Sciences, a San Diego-based drug discovery company, to create a drug discovery incubator, Inception 3, for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss.

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Aeras, GSK to jointly advance TB vaccine

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 11:56 AM

Aeras, a fully-integrated tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development organization, has signed an agreement with global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline to jointly advance the clinical development of an investigational TB vaccine containing GSK's proprietary M72 antigen and AS01E adjuvant. 

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Amarantus, RBCC target NuroPro Parkinson's diagnostic for joint venture

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 11:03 AM

Amarantus BioSciences, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based biotech focused on brain-related disorders including Parkinson's disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI), and Rainbow Coral (RBCC), a biotech subsidiary Rainbow BioSciences, have selected NuroPro, Amarantus' Parkinson's disease blood test in development, as the target product candidate for the proposed joint venture.

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Survey: U.S. adults trust Internet more than pharmacist on health care decisions

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 09:51 AM

A new RxAlly survey revealed that only 18% of U.S. adults trust a pharmacist most to help guide and inform healthcare decisions for themselves and their families. A majority of people trust their doctor most 72%, followed by friends and family 36%, spouses or significant others 36% and the Internet 22%.

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BioSante, ANI Pharmaceuticals ink merger

Friday, October 5, 2012 08:00 AM

Lincolnshire, Ill.-based BioSante Pharmaceuticals and ANI Pharmaceuticals, a fully integrated specialty branded and generic pharmaceutical company of Baudette, Minn., have entered into a definitive merger agreement through an all-stock transaction, with BioSante as the surviving company.

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Theravance, Alfa Wassermann to develop and commercialize velusetrag for gastroparesis

Thursday, October 4, 2012 11:28 AM

Theravance, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Franciso, and Alfa Wassermann, a pharmaceutical company based on West Caldwell, N.J., have entered into an exclusive development and commercialization agreement in certain countries for velusetrag, Theravance's investigational 5-HT4 agonist in development for gastrointestinal motility disorders.

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VentiRx, Celgene collaborate on novel TLR8 agonist VTX-2337 for cancer

Thursday, October 4, 2012 11:03 AM

VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) agonists and antagonists, has formed an exclusive, world-wide collaboration with Celgene, an integrated global biopharmaceutical company, for the development of VTX-2337, a highly potent and selective TLR8 agonist for the treatment of cancer.

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LEO Pharma unveils new scientific collaboration strategy

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 11:08 AM

LEO Pharma, a global pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatology and critical care, plans to establish five long-term, strategic research collaborations in Australia, France, Germany and the U.S. by the end of next year.

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PCAST releases report on innovation in drug discovery and development

Monday, October 1, 2012 03:21 PM

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has advised that the U.S. set a goal of doubling the output of innovative new medicines that meet critical public health needs over the next 10 to 15 years, while continuing to increase drug safety. The council recommends a number of actions involving industry, academia and the federal government in a recent report.

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