Xeloda news from FierceBiotech

Press Release: Results Show XELOX Provides Equivalent Overall Patient Survival Compared To FOLFOX

> Chutes & Ladders: NitroMed has named Kenneth Bate as its new CEO. Release

> Researchers say that updated data from an early-stage trial shows that IPI-504--being developed by Infinity Pharmaceuticals and Medimmune--cut the metabolic rate of tumors. Report

> The FDA has granted Chelsea Therapeutics orphan drug …

> Celgene is buying an active ingredient plant from Switzerland's Siegfried for $46.5 million. Report

> Roche announced that its latest Phase III trial for Xeloda hit its primary endpoint in a study on progression-free cancer survival. Release

> Merck and Vertex announced that MK-0457 will move into Phase II for leukemia after successfully …

Press Release: Xeloda Combination Meets Primary Endpoint in Phase III Study

> European regulators have agreed to expand the approval of Genzyme's Synvisc to include osteoarthritis of the ankle and shoulder. Report

> J&J says its subsidiary has received an approvable letter from the FDA for paliperidone as a therapy for schizophrenia. But the drug maker did not say what issues were still left to be resolved. …

> Serono has signed a development and commercialization pact with Syntonix Pharmaceuticals for its FSH:Fc candidates to treat infertility. Syntonix gains a collaboration fee and will stand to earn up to $54 million in milestones if Serono exercises its option in the deal. Report

> You can add the name of Sanofi-Aventis to the growing list of potential suitors for Bristol-Myers Squibb. …

> Disappointed by poor efficacy data from two Phase III trials of Tavocept, Japan's Takeda announced that it has told BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals that it may scrap their licensing deal on the drug. Report

> The FDA has approved Abbott's Humira for an inflammatory disease of the spine and spinal joints. Report

> Shares …

Hoffman-LaRoche has renewed enrolling patients in a clinical trial of a combination of Xeloda and Avastin as a therapy for colon cancer. Enrollment had been suspended early this year after the sudden deaths of four patients involved in the study. But researchers say their independent safety review board said mortality rates were similar across all groups. They added a cardiac monitoring plan to detect any other deaths in the study that might occur.

- here's the AP report

> Chutes & Ladders: OrthoLogic announced that president and CEO James M. Pusey, MD, has resigned to pursue other opportunities. Release

> Tapestry Pharmaceuticals of Boulder, CO has raised $25.5 million through a private placement. Release

> In a new report, the Center for Public Integrity says that …

GlaxoSmithKline halted a late-stage clinical trial for its cancer therapy Tykerb after it exceeded its primary endpoint of time to disease progression. GSK will now move for regulatory approval for the drug in the second half of the year in Europe and the U.S. Researchers said that a combination therapy of Tykerb and capecitabine (Xeloda) versus capecitabine alone in women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer that have HER2 overexpression.

- read the AFX report